Tomorrow could be one day too late
by MNLMFangirl
Summary: Mysterious disappearances have begun and no one is sure what happens to those taken until they too have been whisked away by an unknown force. Fearing that this may end in tragedy they know they need to find the one or ones responsible for such a crime before it is too late. Who says that Whammy's house is peaceful? Warnings: Yaoi, Violence, death and torture. Rated T for safety
1. Chapter 1

Prologue:

These damn kids.

I begin sighing to myself as I rub my temples. "They are so much to handle sometimes as every day goes by." I close my eyes and lower my hands to the desk I am sitting at making my hands join together on the hard oak wood of the desks surface. I look down towards my lap lost in thought about anything and everything when I raise my head that's when the phone rings and I look to it. I know who it is and I know what they want. I reach over picking it up glad that I am alone especially since now that classes are all done the kids are out to relax and play. I bring it to my ear. "Hello." I say casually.

"When are you going to tell us to move? We've been waiting forever!" The man on the other side growls in frustration. "Remember that we are planning of having a great time while getting rid of those kids once and for all. They will get what they deserve and we will get our reward. Freedom and what we've always wanted." He reminds me without the growl.

"You will be able to soon. We will begin very soon. I just need to make a confirmation on the order then we move out." I tell him. "Am I understood? Contact me tonight and I'll let you know. It should be ready by then."

He sounds calmer and happier as he speaks this time. "That sounds good. I'll talk to you again tonight." He then hangs up with that.

I do the same and I look to a drawer of the desk I am sitting at. I reach over to it and I open.

There is a bunch of papers that seem normal to have for someone like me but buried at the very bottom I have the special list of the order that I need to confirm for tonight.

I feel an evil smile stretch across my lips as I take out the list and I put it on my desk only to close the drawer after. I glance to it and I read the first name there. "Jackeline. Pretty common." I hum to myself. "An easy first one to have." I feel evil laughter boil up inside me as I think of everything that is going to happen and could happen. "Let's get this show on the road." I get up and fold the list stuffing it into my pants pocket as I leave the room going down the hall.

Later that night…..

"Yes. It has been confirmed. Move in." I command as soon as I pick up the phone to the call I have been waiting for.

"Rodger that sir." The man on the other side says almost like someone from the army would speak to a superior but in his voice is that he is content.

We hang up after that and I leave the room heading to her room door.

I act as if just making the usual rounds made to make sure all kids are in their rooms at the curfew. I grab the handle and pause for a moment listening. I hear nothing to be concerned about so I twist open the doorknob and push the door into the room with no light streaming out from the room.

The room is dark and she looks to be sleeping. The room is only dimly lit by the moon outside as it streams through her window leaving it so her room is not pitch black.

I step inside and close the door behind myself only to head to the window of her room after making she's sleeping as well as not to wake her. I look out the window and I see the vehicle pull up resting there waiting for my signal. I reach into my pocket skipping over the small cloth to grab the flash light. I take it out and point it at the window clicking it on only to do a top secret pattern that is almost like making several different sized eights.

The people waiting for my signal slip out of the vehicle and rush into the building knowing where to go.

I turn off the flash light and I turn to the girl in the bed who looks like she might awaken. I stuff the flash light into my pocket and I grab the small cloth bringing it out of my pocket as I walk towards her.

Her eyes open and as she shifts I can see a flash of long brown very slightly curly hair as her tan brown eyes come to rest on me. She blinks and opens her mouth but I can't have her saying anything that might alert any of the other kids of what I am doing.

I slam the cloth over her mouth and nose grabbing her by her neck with my other hand to try to keep her from escaping as she struggles with wide eyes. I wait and watch as her eyes start to droop until they are closed and she is spiraled into unconsciousness. I then remove the cloth putting it back into my pocket.

The door opens and three tiny knocks sound once the door is open to a slit.

The knocks are quite enough to make the sound be heard only to someone who is really listening like me as I somewhat strain to hear it but it's better than being caught.

I go to the door and open it a touch more before moving away from it.

The group enters the room and I nod to the bed. They grab her and carry her out of her room into the hall heading towards where they parked the vehicle as a scout goes ahead to keep the path clear.

I smile and head out of the room myself.

One down and the rest to go.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter one:

"Recently there have been kidnappings in the orphanage." Rodger talks to all the teachers and other adults of Whammy's house in the conference room. "There is no pattern to when the abductions take place. They are scattered almost like the abductors are just looking for windows of opportunity. There also isn't a gender preference which might mean the abductors are either after trying to get enough kids to possibly have big ransom cash or they are trying to take every single kid in this orphanage. Their motives remain unclear and it is not known where they are taking them. So far there has been three abductions in the past week, two that you already know about and a newest one. I will go over all of them just to make sure none of us lose track any of them and this includes me in my old age but I trust all of us to be still good. It's best to be safe than sorry. First was Jackeline who as you know had long brown hair that was very slightly curly and tan brown eyes. She is nine in age and was abducted during the night almost a week ago and no one was in the halls or was reported out of their rooms at the time so we can rule out the kids meaning this is the work of an outsider. Second to be taken was Ghost. He is twelve years old. Black hair that he liked to spike so there is strands on the back of his head standing straight up on the top of his head on the back part with the rest of his hair staying down. His eyes are light blue in color and close to his pupil he has some brown in his eyes. He has pale skin but didn't mind going outside a lot. He was abducted a little after the last class of the day two days ago when he was last reported seen turning the corner to go to his room but he went missing after that. No witnesses and no one in the section where his room is said they were in their rooms at the time he went missing since they were doing their regular activities after class. The third one happened this morning. The one taken was Alison. She was taken when she was heading back to her room to put on her make up after eating breakfast. She was reported going into her room but then she wasn't seen again. She is blonde and likes to curl her hair each morning making her hair tips stay just above touching her shoulder. She has slightly dark blue eyes and she liked to put on makeup so as to try to make the boys flock to her. She is fourteen years old. We need to find out who is taking these kids, what they are doing with them, why they are taking the kids and where they are taking them too. Keep your eyes and ears open for anything that may help us in catching whoever is doing this. Keep a close eye on the kids and make sure to be very watchful when doing the room checks during the night. Thank you and you are dismissed. Have any questions come talk to me."

The adults get up and head out of the room splitting up to check on the kids or to go to where they need to be but will also do their job of watching out for the kids.

Rodger goes to his office and sits down in his chair. "I did as L said to and now we just wait." He looks to his phone almost as if expecting it to start ringing.

Meanwhile….

"Please." A girl begs as she tries to wiggle out of the metal cuffs attached to the table that are put around her wrists and ankles that keep her stuck, with her stomach on the tables surface, on the table. She has tears streaming down her face in which if she wasn't in her current situation then she would be glad she didn't have time to put on makeup. "Please let me go." She begs and cries as the room seems to remain empty and the two doors into the room remain closed. Her tears feel hot against her cheeks as they stream down said cheeks but she is beginning to feel like her mouth is becoming dry from crying so much. She takes a moment and tried to wet her mouth but her body has lost a lot of water from her crying that is still going on.

The room almost looks like a lab where people are experimented on, though there are also some tools that look like they could be used for torture, with a few chairs here and there against the wall all empty except for one that has a cardboard box on it.

The table is steel and looks clean other than the tears left by the girl strapped to it.

The walls and floors reflect the lab to experiment on people perfectly but the girl has no idea what's going to happen as she had woke up on the table alone.

One of the doors open and someone comes into the room.

She turns her head to whoever just came in but not able to see much through the blur of her tears. She does notice a knife being pulled out though. "No." She begs and feels like her crying could start all over again if she had enough water left to go through that much crying that hasn't even stopped before she felt like it could start all over again. "Please no." She lays her head on the table as she feels the person grab the middle back of her V-neck t-shirt by pinching it then lifting it up only holding it for a second. She chocks slightly on a sob for a moment then the knife clatters as it is put onto the table only for her shirt and bra to be removed as her hands are only let out of the cuffs, as well as being held by a strong grip to get her shirt and bra off then they are cuffed once again while the attacker does the same with her pants and underwear. She tries to watch her attacker as said person moves away from her heading to a cardboard box on the chair.

The box is closed when the person finishes putting her clothes into it then the person grabs some duct tape only to tape the box closed. The box is then lifted up and carried out of the room and through one of the doors that the attacker first came through.

The girl shakes as she fears for what is going to come next since it is very unknown to her right now. "P-Please. Let m-me go." She tries shakily as she wonders if the person can even hear her. "I won't tell anyone. Just let me go."

The person comes back a little later with some clothes in his arms, she was able to confirm that it is a male since her tears are now dried up leaving her vision more focused. The male has a hat on so she can't tell much about him but he seems to have short dirty blonde hair and slightly tanned skin like he works a lot out in the sun.

"Let me go." She pleads trying to keep her voice steady as her body still quivers. "I swear I won't tell anyone just let me go. Please."

The male goes over to her and his slightly dark brown eyes don't leave her face until he begins his next move of dressing her. He gets her dressed in the clothes he brought with him which happen to be a black long sleeved shirt that has one or two rips on the lower areas by the sides but it's not big enough to be really showing much and a pair of navy blue shorts that seem to have been made into shorts by tearing off the pant legs so the shorts reach almost to her knees. He then picks up the knife in one hand only to grab her by her hair with the other. He yanks her up by her hair till she is slightly straining her wrists against the cuffs.

She slightly screams in pain and fear as he does this.

He leans down to her ear and whispers into it but his whisper is close to regular talking volume. "Be glad you were behaving well enough to not have had me using the knife on you." He chuckles. "And welcome to Hell where you'll be staying till your death but you might enter another Hell after death." He almost slams her head back down onto the table then he uncuffs her picking her up into his arms, cradling her only to take her to the door she hadn't seen open yet. He carries her through and it is just a hall of cages that some may say are like cells or are like the cages people put dogs, too big to fit in smaller cages, in when the owners are going out for a bit.

She is too scared to truly struggle.

The cages look big enough to fit two people but each cage has one bed that's a beat up mattress against the back wall almost having both ends of it touching the walls with one not touching leaving a space between the mattress and the wall. The cages seem to be big enough that with the mattress, that looks to have come from a single person bed that can fit two if they stay close together, then two people from kids to teens can lay on the cold cement ground side by side just barely without touching the mattress. The cages are separated by walls but the doors that go from almost touching the floor to almost touching the ceiling but not leaving enough room to escape are cage doors. All cages seem to be empty, with the doors still closed, except for two though that isn't including the mattresses in each cage.

At the end of the hall of cages is a final cage facing the door and the only lighting in the room is a light overhead that is on.

She wonders for a moment if this was a part of a pound once a upon a time ago but was not used for anything else but possibly kidnapping kids to use them for maybe torture or experiments.

One of the cages that help make up the walls, including the walls separating each cage from the one next to it, is opened by the man.

She is tossed into it and the cage door is closed then it locks automatically. She thinks it's either a finger print scanner, a card scanner or someone controlling the locks using technology as the man turns and leaves the hall of cages. She knew she heard the lock and saw a flash of movement as two metal beam looking things seem to quickly lock the cage door in a second as it is closed but she crawls to the door and curling her fingers onto the holes of the door since it's just the metal fence material with holes. She shakes the door then let's go of it when it won't open only to try to slam herself onto the door hoping to break it but still to no luck.

The door is too well made to be easily broken and she bets that human power alone will not be able to break it as in order to break it, they will probably need a gun or something to make a hole to slip through.

"Alison? That's you right?" The girls friend Jackeline says from another cage though her voice echoes a little in the room.

Alison looks up and looks to try to spot her friend. "Jackeline. I'm scared." She whimpers. "What's going on and what do they want with us?"

"It's a little hard to tell what they are aiming for and what the point of what they are doing to us is so I can't say for sure. Me and Ghost have been trapped her since we got kidnapped. We were changed out of our clothes and changed into new clothes by one person who did it not letting us do it ourselves. Then we were thrown into a cage." Jackeline responds.

Alison spots movement in the cage right across from her and she looks only to notice her friend is there and is moving closer to the door of her cage. Her eyes widen when she sees her friend. "What the hell happened to you?"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter two:

It's after the last class of the day.

Everyone in the Whammy's building gather for an assembly and the kids begin muttering wondering if this is about the abductions.

Once Rodger gets up onto the small stage set up at the front everyone begins shushing each other until they are silently listening to Rodger. "Everyone! As you may have suspected this is about the abductions that have been recently going on. We have set out some new rules to keep everyone as safe as we can until this case is solved or until further notice." He begins. "The abductor seems to be going after seemingly random targets all of which are you children and teens. So for your safety please try to stay in places where others can at least see you. If you find yourself alone then please be highly cautious and be on high alert for anyone who may be following you or may try to attack you to kidnap you. It is an outsider so I highly doubt any of you will know the abductor. During the night everyone is encouraged to stay in their rooms after curfew and adults will be doing the regular room checks as well as will be patrolling the halls. Please inform an adult if you see, hear or know of anything suspicious especially anything that may help with this case no matter how small or insignificant it may seem. With that take care and be careful. You are dismissed."

The assembly breaks up and kids gather into groups with a few staying in the common room where the assembly took place and others leave the room to talk somewhere else.

Rodger gets off the small stage and leaves the room. He glances around at any kid that he happens to pass by as they continue talking not giving him a glance as they walk past him on either side of him. He makes it to his office and steps inside closing the door behind himself. He looks up to his desk and his lips twitch wanting to curve upwards.

Near's P.O.V.

I walk to the library and I move to the farthest corner of library only then do I let myself relax a little as I sit down in the chair that is placed there for the kind of small table that has only one chair and is in the farthest corner of the library so it is rare for anyone to really come over here but myself. I place the books, I carried in so that the laptop I am carrying as well was hidden, and my laptop on the table.

Whammy's orphans were not allowed laptops unless you are a certain few and even then they still have to have monthly or sometimes twice or so a month of checks to make sure there is nothing illegal or anything bad on it.

I secretly brought the laptop with me when I came to Whammy's all those years ago. I could never let anyone know I have it and thus since the farthest corner of the library is never inhabited other than myself, as well as the fact that Mello likes to visit me in my room sometimes no matter if it's for a rant to try to bring me down or if it's to keep analyzing me to try to beat me, it makes for a good place to go to when hiding something.

This may come as a shock but Mello does not actually physically even try to hurt me as much as people think.

When he does hurt me he shows hesitance and he seems to feel like he is the worst person in the world when he does actually hurt me.

He prefers to attack others because they don't cause him the same pain and hesitance that he gets when hurting me.

I am more than certain that Mello cares about me a lot more than he lets on and probably more than he allows himself to admit. I do wish Mello would actually be with me because I love him but like I can just tell him that. I know that there's no way he'd ever allow us to happen unless something truly bad happened or he finally opens his eyes to how much he truly cares. I shake my head softly and I glance around as an extra precaution that really isn't needed but since I can let absolutely no one know I have this laptop then I am better safe than sorry. I turn to the laptop and I open it. I always keep it on silent to help hide it so it will not make a noise that may alert anyone. I open a chat room and I see that the other two are online as well.

'Hey.' R sent.

'Hey.' N sent.

'Hey!' S sent.

'What's up?' R sent.

'Not much my traveling sales have been going well. I think I'll be able to visit sometime soon.' S responds.

'That's wonderful! What about you N?' R types back.

'There has been some recent abductions in the orphanage.' N responds.

'Oh no. How many have been taken?' S asks.

'So far only three.' N types back.

'Would it make you feel better if you came to stay with us at least until it's all over?' R types.

'I think I should be ok. After all L is working on the case but if it starts getting dangerous I'll see if I can slip away to get to you guys.' N sent.

'Alright please be careful big brother.' R sends.

'Yes and if you need me to come pick you up or well either of us to do so then we will. Just let us know.' S sends.

'I will.' N sends.

'That's good. If you get taken we will hunt down that bastard till we find him then make him pay big time.' S replies.

'Yes! The Shadows will also be joining without a doubt and whoever dared to kidnap you and if they hurt you at all then the bastards that are doing this will wish they have never been born!' R adds.

'I know you all would and it would be the same if either of you got hurt or taken.' N sends.

'Just please be extra careful.' S pleads.

'S you should know I will be as careful as possible.' N replies.

'I know but I just worry.' S replies.

'How about updating us daily and that way we can know right away if something may have happened if you cannot contact S right away.' R sends.

'Yes! That sounds like a good plan!' S agrees.

'Sounds good to me too.' N sends.

'Alright then it's a deal.' S sent.

'I need to go. Love you both.' N sends.

'Love you both too.' S sends.

'Right back at you two.' R sends.

I exit out of the chatroom then I close the laptop only to hide it again as I get up heading back to my room to drop it off. I get to my room and go in shutting the door behind myself. I glance around confirming I am alone then I go over to my bed. I sit down and place the books onto my nightstand then I get up going over to my desk putting the laptop in a drawer that I built in myself that's hidden by being on the underside to keep my laptop safe. I finish putting my laptop safely away then I look outside seeing some kids playing soccer as to be expected. I sigh softly then I sit in the chair that is positioned by my desk so I have a place to sit when using my desk. I watch the kids play soccer for a little longer then I look up to the sky outside of my window.

Sometimes I wonder how the sky can be so pretty when things seem to be taking a turn for the worse in the orphanage.

No one's P.O.V.

Too bad Near looked up when he did or else he would have been the only one to see the car slowly driving by as if examining the kids outside.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter three:

The next day there is a major thunder storm making all kids have to rush inside from their early morning outdoors activities.

However one of the females don't come back in.

A few teachers and Rodger go out looking but there is no sign of Linda except for her art stuff she took outside to do some early morning landscaping.

Her art canvas stand is knocked over with her canvas damaged as if to show signs of struggle.

"They took Linda!" One of the teachers gasp as the realization sinks in.

Rodger turns to them. "Make sure none of the kids are alone right now!" He orders then the teachers rush back into the building. He watches them go then turns back to the stuff left behind from Linda's kidnapping. "What a headache relief." He mummers. "So annoying sometimes." He picks up Linda's stuff taking it inside.

The news of Linda's kidnapping quickly spreads like wildfire and it was sure that many more would be going missing but something was not expected.

A little later that day another child went missing, this time male…. Matt.

The boys left the common room as stated by Mello who saw him last then he suddenly went missing.

"They are picking up on the pace of the kidnappings." L says as soon as he gets the news. "This is not good. We need to move everyone in Whammy's house to a safer location until further notice." He informs Rodger.

"Yes sir." Rodger says then hangs up.

Light comes over to L. "Everything alright?" He asks, after all L had left the investigation room when he got the call.

L turns to the brunette. "It's just an update on another case I am working on." He says simply. "I didn't want to worry any of you with it especially since I can tell the Kira case is being very stressful right now."

"What is this case?" Light raises an eyebrow in curiosity.

"Just some kidnappings at an orphanage." L says. "Five kids have been taken and I just informed the orphanage to take the kids to a safer location until further notice. They should be safe while the hunt for the missing kids and the kidnappers is over. Now let's go back to work." He leads the way back into the room with Light following.

The orphanage is busy as everyone packs up some stuff to bring to the safer location and a few hours later everyone is almost ready to go when something terrifying happens.

Alison's body is found on the front step of the orphanage with a note.

Rodger rushes to the scene and looks to the note reading it out loud to himself and the teachers at the scene while the kids are ushered to another section of the orphanage. "You dare to move and I will kill every single orphan that is taken then hunt every single other orphan at your orphanage down till they all are dead." He reads then looks around but no signs of anything else out of place so he turns to the teachers. "Make sure no one sees this and we must contact L as soon as possible." He informs them.

They nod and rush off.

Rodger turns back to the scene and he takes a moment to think as he reaches into his pocket where a folded piece of paper is.

L gets a call from Rodger and he again leaves the room to answer it. "Is it done?" He asks as soon as he answers.

"There's a complication." Rodger says then he explains what happened.

L brings his thumb to rest on his bottom lip biting at the almost nonexistent nail as he hears this. He lets go of it to speak. "I see. Then we cannot risk the others being killed. I want you to make sure the security is top notch as best as you can get. I suspect there may be a leak from the inside. A seventy two percent chance."

"But everyone here had their background and personalities combed through to every last drop of it. Are you sure it's a leak?" Rodger asks.

"More than certain." L responds. "Make sure to record anything suspicious then report it to me as fast as possible. I also will be making sure someone will be able to examine the body to help us determine what exactly killed her as well as what the kidnappers are doing to them. Also we should put out missing posters and announcements. It may help us locate them if someone saw something." He says.

"I will make sure it is all done." Rodger says then the two hang up.

"Rodger!" A female teacher comes running over to him and he turns to her as he puts his cell into his pocket.

"What is it?" He asks her.

"The kidnappings are escalating!" She says in a clear voice even though she is slightly panting. "They took about six others while we were distracted with Alison's body."

"They are planning to get everyone in the orphanage." He says. "I want you to make sure the kids are where teachers are at all times. Make sure the teachers know who is coming in and out of the rooms they go to." He orders. "Also make sure there is a list of all taken so far on my desk."

She nods then dashes off to inform the others of the new orders.

Rodger turns to the sky. "What a beautiful sky. Not a cloud out there and this place is getting busier but quieter. Strange isn't it?" He looks to Alison's body. "Aren't I right?" He stares at the body for a moment longer then turns away and makes the front lobby off bounds until further notice.

Near goes into the library and manages to slip into the corner he goes to when hiding something. He sits down and opens his laptop going into the chat room.

'The kidnappings have escalated and there's rumors that one of the ones kidnapped were killed which made the front lobby off bounds. There's no way to confirm the rumors right now but it is highly likely.' N sends.

'That's it we are going to come to get you. This is way too dangerous.' S replies.

'Yes I agree.' R sends.

'I agree and maybe we can also help in the investigation. I will await your arrival.' N replies.

'We will be there by tomorrow afternoon.' R replies. 'Do be careful.'

'I will and you both be careful too.' N sends.

'We will. See you as soon as we get there.' S sends.

Near closes his laptop and takes it back to his room making sure to keep it hidden.

Rodger greets the man that came to investigate the body. "Right here." He leads the man to the crime scene.

The man examines the body for a moment. "It looks like this poor girl was tortured before she was killed." He says. "There are burn marks that look to be from electrocution. There are marks on her wrists showing she was tied up. I'll need to take her body in to get a better idea of how she died."

Rodger nods. "Right. Just make sure the scene is good and checked before moving the body. Then when you know anything inform me please." He informs the man then leaves heading back into the orphanage.

The rest of the day was uneventful and the missing posters were put up around town hopeful that someone saw something or knows something that may help.

The next day one other was taken during the night and those left in the orphanage are becoming a little scared, though Mello and Near want to help with the case even if Near isn't going to be staying at Whammy's for much longer anyways.

Near was walking down the hall at the time that is a little close to ten thirty.

He looks around at the place as he walks then stops when he hears something. He turns to Rodger's office and presses his ear against the door to Rodgers office. He listens making sure to keep an eye out for anyone who might spot him though it helps the orphanage is a little emptier than when all the kids that were taken were in the orphanage.

"Our next target is Mello." Rodgers voice, though slightly muffled by the door, says. "We are getting close to our goal of having all the orphans here then we can work to our next goal. Testing them until they die just like Alison did."

Near couldn't mistake the words and he silently gasps.

Rodger, the man who was the most concerned and worried about the disappearances, is actually working with the kidnappers. He was the one who was the most concerned about every child but Near's instincts were right when he felt that something was off about Rodger.

Near moves away from the door and he knows he needs to warn Mello. He turns and walks down the hall quickly turning around when a door opens. He makes sure he looks normal and walks back towards Rodgers office as the man steps out.

Rodger turns to Near as he passes. "Ah hello there Near." He greets. "Where are you headed?"

Near pauses and turns to the man. "Back to my room." He answers simply. "How is the investigation going?"

"We are doing our best." Rodger says simply.

"As expected. So I am guessing you have no leads." Near replies.

Rodger raises an eyebrow. "You are more interested in the case then I thought you would." He says.

"Is that a problem?" Near asks.

"Not at all." Rodger shakes his head. "Well don't worry. It's all under control. We are investigating at the top speeds possible."

Near shrugs and walks away but can feel Rodger watching him go as he heads towards the room. He is out of Rodgers sight and he moves down the hall he spots Mello coming out of the blonde's own room. "Mello." He goes over to the blonde who turns to him.

"What is it twit?" Mello growls.

"You need to be careful. I overheard a conversation saying that you are next on the list." Near informs Mello.

"Oh really?" Mello raises an eyebrow.

Near nods.

"And who was this person who has the list?" The blonde demands.

Suddenly Rodger comes into view and heads to the most recently kidnapped persons room.

"Can we talk somewhere more private?" Near asks quietly.

"And how am I sure I can trust you?" Mello questions.

"You can Mello. I am telling the truth." Near informs the other.

Rodger exits the room then comes over to them. "Is everything alright?" He questions.

"Just fine Rodger. Was just sharing some thoughts on the case with Mello." Near answers as if it is nothing.

Mello's eyes careful watch the two for a moment to confirm his suspicions. "Right. But whatever. I can figure this out on my own and I don't need some twit helping me." He leaves with that.

Rodger blinks. "Alright then. Have a nice rest of the day Near and please be careful because we don't know who is next."

"I will." Near says then heads into his room.

Rodger leaves and pulls out his cell. "That brat is up to something." He says under his breath and he quickly slips into another room to make a call.

A little later Mello heads back towards the rooms, he wants to confirm something with Near as the pale boy seems to have heard something that can be useful in helping with the case.

He notices Near's door is open and he peers inside since the door is never left open more than a fraction in both cases if Near is in or out of his room.

Near's desk chair is knocked over and a dice tower that is on the floor is knocked over with some of it still standing.

Also there is a few spots of blood like Near was hurt.

The realization hits Mello like a ton of bricks.

Near was taken!


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter four:

Near's P.O.V.

I groan slightly and I open my eyes to try to figure out where I am.

The room almost looks like a lab where people are experimented on, though there are also some tools that look like they could be used for torture, with a few chairs here and there against the wall all empty except for one that has a single cardboard box on it.

I am strapped to a table with my back against it and metal cuffs around both my ankles as well as my wrists.

The wound on my shoulder stings and I can hear soft drops of some blood every now and then dripping onto the metal table.

I ignore it for now and try to figure out a way to escape. I find no possible way out right now so I know what I need to do. I close my eyes and concentrate since I can't let the kidnappers know my little secret. I open my eyes once it's done.

Suddenly one of the doors open and I look to see a man dressed in all black with dark brown hair and brown eyes with a touch of green mixed in them.

He is carrying a knife. "Seems you were in the wrong place at the wrong time and heard something you shouldn't have." He licks his lips. "What a bad boy. You didn't behave like you should have." He moves closer.

"You won't get away with this. Both you, Rodger and whoever else you have working with you. None of you will get away with what you are doing." I say then I get a hard smack making my cheek sting but I push away the feeling of the sting.

"You shut up because we are going to get away with it. All of you will die by our hands after all." The man tells me.

I roll my eyes and this earns me a slash onto my hip by the knife making me almost yelp but I hold back.

"Now you had better start behaving." The man growls then starts tearing off my clothes using the knife, not daring to remove the metal cuffs as he just cuts everything off with the knife.

Though I expected he wouldn't dare try to release me even if I have two wounds since I put up quite the fight when they came to take me away.

Let's summarize it, one is dealing with a broken bloody nose, another probably still recovering from a hard kick to the crotch and the other from a possible concussion from being thrown to the floor pretty much head first.

Yeah I wasn't going down with a fight, then Rodger came up from behind me when I was fighting the other three.

Rodger put a rag over my mouth and nose.

Though I struggled and got free the damage was done so with one slash at my shoulder my drowsy self fell to the floor as my world went black.

I then woke up here where the man is now putting my cut up clothes into the cardboard box which he picks up carrying it out of the room. I take a look to the cuffs and I try to move my hand to see if I can get at least one hand out even if I have to break it.

It will be worth it to get out of here then to get this whole kidnapping thing finished while the ones responsible head for jail.

The door opens and I stop my attempts since I will need more time then I probably have.

The man comes over to me and puts a rage over my mouth and nose until I am drowsy then he dresses me in ratty looking clothing of a dusty grey t-shirt that has the sleeves ripped off to make it a tank top.

Then a pair of black pants that a few rips here and there. The pants are just a little tighter than what I am used to and the waist line is fit so the pants won't fall off unless the button is undone.

After that I am lifted up off the table and carried into another room but the drug is seriously annoying me because I can't fight back but I notice what's around me as it goes in and out of focus.

It is just a hall of cages that some may say are like cells or are like the cages people put dogs, too big to fit in smaller cages, in when the owners are going out for a bit.

The cages look big enough to fit two people but each cage has one bed that's a beat up mattress against the back wall almost having both ends of it touching the walls with one not touching leaving a space between the mattress and the wall. The cages seem to be big enough that with the mattress, that looks to have come from a single person bed that can fit two if they stay close together, then two people from kids to teens can lay on the cold cement ground side by side just barely without touching the mattress. The cages are separated by walls but the doors that go from almost touching the floor to almost touching the ceiling but not leaving enough room to escape are cage doors. Most of the cages seem to be filled with at least one orphan that was taken and a max of two orphans, with the doors closed obviously.

At the end of the hall of cages is a final cage facing the door and the only lighting in the room is a light overhead that is on.

The man takes me to the cage that is facing the door, he opens it and throws me in.

I barely hear him speak as darkness starts to take over once again.

"We will have the perfect roommate for you soon." He says as I slightly hear the lock click into place. "You little son of a bitch. You will pay big time for the injuries you gave my coworkers."

After that it is darkness.

No one's P.O.V.

Near's disappearance and it being so close to what happened a little earlier made Mello become highly suspicious of Rodger having some sort of involvement.

It also confirms that Near heard something he wasn't supposed to.

Mello keeps a sharp eye on Rodger as the man moves about his day.

Rodger glanced back and Mello walked past the opening to the hall way munching on the chocolate bar. "Mello."

Mello turns to Rodger and stops walking. "What is it Rodger?" He asks as soon as he swallows the chocolate in his mouth.

"You talked to Near before he disappeared." Rodger goes over to the blonde. "Did he seem off in anyway or anything?"

"No. He just wanted to discuss the case." Mello lies then takes another bite of his chocolate bar.

"Do you suspect he might have something to do with the kidnappings?" Rodger questions further.

Mello blinks. "No. There is no way he is. There was nothing about him that told me he was and the fact that the kidnappers hurt him as told by the blood in his room I believe he heard or saw something he wasn't supposed to."

"I see." Rodger says keeping his eyes on Mello. "Well then what did he say about the case? It might help."

Mello gets a feeling that something isn't right and he takes a step back. "Nothing more than what you seem to have." He answers and continues munching on his chocolate bar.

Suddenly a voice comes from behind Mello.

"Hey you!" A girl's voice says and Mello turns to see who it is.

Rodger and Mello look confused at the girl who looks to be about three years younger than Near.

She has white hair that is straight and reaches to her waist. She is wearing a black t-shirt with a white pirate skull on it and it has a few rips here and there but it's a fashion choice kind of rips so it's not revealing. She is also wearing knee high light brown boots and black short shorts. Her winter blue eyes stare demandingly and coldly at the two males. "I want to know where Near is. Can you point me out to where he might be?" She says.

"Why do you want to know?" Mello asks raising an eyebrow.

The girl crosses her arms over her chest. "Is it so bad for his little sister to be wanting to visit her big brother?" She demands making both males eyes widen at hearing this.

"I had no idea Near had a little sister." Rodger says.

"Yeah well hurry up and point me in the direction of where he is. It has been awhile since we had to split up years ago for safety reasons that I refuse to share with you." She says in a very demanding tone.

"Well sorry he is unavailable at the moment." Rodger says. "After all, classes are going on."

The girl lowers her head till she is giving the two males a very dangerous glare. "I want to see him now. It is very important."

"What is so important it can't wait?" Mello asks.

"That does not concern you blondie." The girl says then turns to Rodger while ignoring the flaming blonde. "Now I'll ask again. Where is my brother?"

Rodger sighs softly. "Sorry but he isn't here."

The girl's expression turns to worried. "What do you mean not here?" She asks.

"There's been some recent kidnappings and Near was the most recent one that was taken." Mello explains. "You are a brat." He adds with a growl.

Now the girl looks angry. "How dare you let my brother be kidnapped! You should be out there looking for him!" She shouts slightly.

"Calm down please." Rodger says. "We are doing our very best to find him. Did he contact you by any chance and told you anything that might be useful?" He asks.

"Didn't you hear me? We were split up for years. We haven't had any contact in that time but we knew where each other went. Well I am going to look for him myself and he had better be alright." She dashes off after that.

"Well that was strange." Rodger says.

Mello takes this time to slip away as his gut tells him that Rodger planned to have him attacked then dragged off. He needs to not be caught right now and he vows to work to solve this case no matter what.

Rodger turns to Mello but finds he is gone.

Meanwhile…

The girl, Near's little sister climbs into the black car. "They got him before we could." She informs the others in the car and she has Near's laptop with her.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter five:

Later that day Mello is heading towards the library when suddenly Rodger comes over to him.

"Mello." Rodger says as the two stand facing each other. "Too bad for you that Near did over hear something he shouldn't have and he told you. Aren't I right? Well at least now you know what happens to people who hear something they shouldn't have." He gives a twisted evil smirk.

Mello's eyes widen a touch as he remembers the blood. "You killed him didn't you?!" He growls.

Rodger chuckles. "Killed? Oh dear Mello. He isn't dead. Well he isn't dead yet but he will be. Oh you can count on that in his coming future as we do plan on killing him." He takes a step towards Mello. "You know I was thinking about that. Maybe we should drown him. Hm? Wouldn't that be a wonderful way for him to go? Lack of air, probably struggling to try to escape and it's a prolonged death which will make it much worse." He takes another step towards Mello who takes a step back. "Oh but we should get back to what we are going to do with you."

Mello gets ready to defend himself then suddenly someone grabs him from behind and puts a rag over his mouth and nose. He struggles and tries to fight away the darkness but is failing. He goes limp as the darkness wins.

When he starts to awaken he is already on the metal table, with his back to the table, that was cleaned so there is no blood on it.

He glances around after taking a moment to wake up.

A ginger woman enters the room with a man. "Ah I see he is awake." She says to the blonde man beside her.

"Yes." The blonde man says in a deep voice. "Well you go ahead and grab the girl so she can go to one of her tests."

The ginger woman nods and leaves going through the other door in the room.

The blonde man goes over to Mello pulling a knife out of his pocket as he approaches the blonde. "It's too bad Rodger couldn't have come and do this himself." He says. "Oh well. Guess more choice for me. Especially when your tests start. Perhaps Rodger will be there by then." He says as he brings the knife towards Mello's chest.

Mello struggles against the metal cuffs holding him into place but the cuffs won't allow him freedom. His clothes are ripped from his body by the knife and put into a box. His shirt it mostly ripped off when the ginger woman carries a weak looking Jackeline out of the other room only to leave through the door the blonde man and the ginger woman first came through a little earlier.

Finally when the man is done ridding Mello of his clothes he leaves with the box going out the door that the blonde male entered from.

Mello struggles as he is now alone and naked on this cold metal table he cannot escape from.

A little later the male comes back carrying the clothes his is going to change Mello into.

He climbs on top of Mello to help keep him pinned down as he uncuffs Mello's wrists to put the navy blue t-shirt, that has two rips that show it is not new but it is not really revealing. He cuffs Mello again once that is done though the blonde orphan didn't make any of it easy by struggling. He moves onto the pants that is a pair of dark brown, almost brown, shorts that reach to half way to Mello's knees.

Mello continues to struggle making it difficult as well as to try to get free. He is suddenly slapped hard.

"Stop squirming you twit!" The man growls.

"Get your fat blubbering body off of mine." Mello growls and gets a cut from the knife onto the cheek that wasn't slapped.

"You had better behave or this place will be a lot worse." The man says with a slight laugh. "I will enjoy seeing you do your tests." He says grabbing Mello's face in one hand pulling the blonde orphan up till he is straining against the cuffs on his wrists.

Mello scrunches his eyes shut then looks to the man in disgust and anger.

"Now behave." The man says then let's go of Mello by almost slamming the blonde orphan into the metal table. "If you don't then I'll have to see how well those you care for most will do in being raped with you watching." He says in a warning tone only to lick his lips. "Do behave or you will be making more than just your life more of a Hell."

"You sick bastard." Mello growls.

The man manages to get the pants onto Mello then he uncuffs the blonde taking him into the cage room only to throw him into the cage facing the door, the same one Near is in, makes sure the door locked then leaves.

Mello may have wanted to struggle and fight but when the man threatened of doing such a disgusting thing to those he cares for he just couldn't let that happen. He still has his pride and he does have a heart so there's no way he would push such a terrible thing onto those he cares for because of what he did.

"Are you ok?" Near asks as he moves closer to Mello to examine the other who sits up.

"Yeah." Mello says and turns to the other.

"You got a cut." Near says then moves a hand towards the wound wanting to help Mello but the blonde moves away from Near's hand.

"It's nothing." He says then he gets a better look at Near spotting the blood on the mostly albino's clothing that the people dressed him in. "You are hurt as well." He says.

Near glances to his shoulder, not bothering with the one on his hip. "Yeah but it's no big deal. I'll be fine." He says.

Mello wonders so he moves Near's shirt till he sees the wound on his shoulder. He lets the shirt fall back into place. "Whatever." He turn away to get a better look at where they are. "Where exactly is this?" He asks.

"Welcome to your worst nightmare." Matt, who is in one of the cages by the door answers Mello's question.

Back at Whammy's the next day…

"The cause of death was by blood loss from cuts on her back. She must have been weak from the other torture she went through such as electrocution which made her weaker or to put it in another context. More vulnerable to death." The man who looked at Alison's body informs Rodger. "She was killed hours before you found her so she dead before she was even dumped onto the front step."

"Thank you." Rodger says.

A male teacher who has silky straight black hair that is short on one side and longer on the side, bursts into the room. "Rodger!" He says and his dark hazel eyes look to Rodger telling all that is needed.

"Who is it this time?" Rodger asks knowing that someone else has been killed.

"Jackeline." The teacher responds. His black muscle shirt shifts when he does and his black skinny jeans are a nice fit on him with his dark brown boots that go half way up his leg.

Rodger leans back in his chair. "They are still killing them. Probably was tortured to death." He says then takes a moment's pause before speaking again. "Well we will need to continue investigating. We only have a very small number of kids remaining in the orphanage. That's all we can do. Try to keep them safe and keep looking for those taken before they are killed."

"Yes Rodger." The teacher nods and leaves.

Rodger's P.O.V.

So many kids are out of my hair now and the torture is just a way to test them no matter how fun it is to do.

My headaches are going down and I am happy.

Soon I will have no more brats to deal with.

I blink as I remember something from when we were taking Near….. I should have thought about when I met his sister but still…

Flashback:

I come into the room just as Near throws one of the three guys helping me kidnap Near to the floor pretty much head first leaving the guy dazed. I spot a knife close to me so I pick it up and move over to Near since he has his back to me.

He is fighting the other two standing so I take this chance to put the rag from my pocket over his mouth and nose. He struggles and gets free but the drug is already starting to take effect as he turns to face me.

I slash him on the shoulder knocking him over and landing on the ground leaving some blood on the ground as the drug continues to take over him putting him to sleep. I look at the three on my side to see how they are.

One, named Adam, is still dazed on the floor.

Another, named Jeremy, has a bloody and broken nose.

The final one, named Jeff, is hunched over holding his crotch with a face twisted in pain.

"He surely didn't go down without a fight. I would expect that more from Mello not Near." I say.

"Yeah. He sure did. Almost like he had to wrestle or protect a small child I would think." Jeff says with a voice that is obvious that he is trying to hold back the pain from his voice. His brown eyes is like windows to his pain though. "I think I'm just going to have a date with the floor." He says then he collapses to the floor making his milk chocolate colored hair shift so a few strands fall into his face.

"Ok then." I say after watching him go down to the floor. I turn to Jeremy. "We need to hurry and get Near out of here." I order.

"Wes swir." Jeremy says, his voice sounding strange thanks to his broken nose.

End of flashback.

I wonder what really is hidden in Near's past that we don't know about because he didn't learn to fight here.

Especially to fight well enough to keep three grown men from knocking him out.

I face palm myself. "I can't believe I didn't get a way to contact or find Near's sister." I say to myself. "But then comes the question who exactly is she and could she be a threat to our whole plan? Is she the only sibling? Where is she residing?" He growls after speaking as he finds that his questions only lead to more questions.

So many unanswered questions.

No one's P.O.V.

Mello does his best to try to ignore that Near's wounds are still bleeding, even if it's not by as much as probably earlier, but he can't. He sighs softly and rips part of the mattress from the bottom part making sure he has strips of fabric that can act as bandages. He goes over to Near who is giving him a curious look. He ties the fabric so it is make shift bandages on Near's wounds. "It was just annoying me." He says a little softly then moves away from Near after.

"Thank you Mello." Near says quiet enough Mello knows it was only meant for him to hear and that Near was actually also doing it because he knew Mello didn't want his pride to be hurt.

Mello almost thought he didn't hear Near right. He shrugs it off and lays down on the mattress closing his eyes wanting to just sleep hoping this is all just some messed up dream.

It is after all it is probably night time anyways.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter six:

Mello groans slightly and rolls over before opening his eyes. He sees the wall of the cage and curses that this whole thing wasn't a dream. He sits up and glances around till he spots Near sitting on the probably cold floor leaning against the wall while looking at the floor in a lost in thought look. He remembers what Rodger said about killing Near and he feels a hurt deep down inside him but he wonders why….. after all Near is nothing more than his rival…..right? He turns away from Near and the place is silent until suddenly the door leading into the room is slammed open with three people moving in.

All three have lab coats and there is some whimpers of fear coming from some orphans.

The slamming of the door snaps Near back to reality and he looks up as one of the people with a lab coat comes over to the cage he and Mello are in.

Mello clenches his teeth and his hands move to clench into fists as he realizes that they are most likely planning to kill Near.

The one person reaches to open the cage door but then looks like he second guesses himself.

"What are you waiting for!?" The only female of the three snaps at the hesitating male. "It doesn't matter if he took out those three. If you dwaddle then the boss for sure will have fun watching your torture next."

The male nods and opens the cage door going straight for Near.

Near quickly moves by jumping up into the air only to slam the male down as the mostly albino male lands on top of the male.

The other male rushes in and grabs Near but Near isn't going to let them win so the other male slams a hard punch to Near's gut even though Near gets a good shot to his stomach as well. He picks Near up trying to ignore his stomach pains and he uses as much strength he can in restraining Near from escaping. "This one is a damn slippery one." He says and the two males move quickly as they leave the cage then close the cage door.

Mello blinks then curses as he comes to realize he was so focused on holding back from beating up the guy that hurt Near that he missed a possible chance to escape. He watches as the man carries Near out of the room and he moves forward to the locked door reaching up to the metal that makes up the door only to grasp it. He feels so raged as the man with Near disappears through the door that leads to this damn hall of cages.

Meanwhile….

Near starts struggling as the pain in his stomach starts to go away.

The man has a strong grip but Near keeps struggling.

Near manages to make the man drop him like he has a slippery grip. He lands on his feet and dashes to take off. He gets to the other door and opens it only to find two men standing there. He gets ready for a fight.

Two other men both go to grab Near.

Near sends a kick at one man's gut then he grabs the other's wrist. He tugs the man so the man goes falling to the ground just beside Near. He lets go as he man is falling then he dashes through the now open space to get away. He knows that if he can escape he can get help for the others or maybe he can find a way to open the cages to free the others.

Alarms blare.

"PRISONER ESCAPE! USE ANY MEANS OF GETTING THE PRISONER BACK OR KILL THE PRISONER!"

That is what is repeated.

The two in the area with the cages ignore it as they chart how the other prisoners are doing.

Near glances around as he becomes surrounded.

"Freeze and we won't have to do anything drastic." One man says.

Near smirks as the men start to advance. He moves one foot to behind the other as he waits for the perfect moment.

The men all move quickly to try to grab Near.

Near jumps up right at the last second making the men crash into each other. He uses their bodies as ground to run away from the mass of bodies until his feet actually hits the ground. He runs for the door that looks to lead outside.

The door opens and Rodger steps inside.

Near tries to go around him but Rodger puts a hand out so Near's waist hits his arm. He turns to give a determined look then he sends his elbow into Rodgers face making the man's reflexes make his hands go to his face in pain.

The others that are a part of the evil group run to try to stop Near from escaping but he runs through that door only to skid to a stop as he finds a large group standing in the way of letting him go any further.

He looks back and sees the others from that room come to block him that way so he has nowhere to go.

Two men who are some of the strongest ones of the group grab him and he struggles against the strong grips he even tries to kick one of the mens knees yet the way he's being held makes it quite difficult.

The blaring alarms and the repeated message die down to silence.

Rodger glares at Near who glares back. "You are quite the nuisance."

Near shrugs. "Not my fault that you are stupid and weak." He says.

Rodger growls and punches Near's cheek. "You should shut up. You seem to have forgotten the position you are in."

Near is blind folded then he is being carried off somewhere. He tries to get free but the grip on him tightens obviously not caring if it hurts him.

The two men put Near so his back is against a pole of some sort then his arms are tied so his wrists are just barely touching on the other side like he is hugging the pole backwards.

Just in a hug your wrists don't have rope on them making you unable to get free without assistance.

Then they tie him so his waist and arms are tied with more rope like how people tie another up so their arms are against their sides but Near's arms are just not at his sides.

Near can't get his hands or arms free from the ropes and the blindfold is removed by Rodger.

"Well how does it feel to be so defenceless Near?" Rodger says with a smirk.

"Oh I don't know. Maybe you should try it yourself." Near says knowing that maybe if he makes Rodger angry or annoyed he might slip up telling him something that may be helpful.

Rodger's lips drop to a frown. "I am starting to see the resemblance in you and your sister." He says.

"Oh really?" Near responds and his lips curve up into a small smirk as he knows that Rodger is in much more trouble than just with the law when they find this place.

Especially if they dare to try anything like killing him or even hurting him.

"That doesn't matter." Rodger gains his smirk again. "You won't be around much longer anyways."

There is the sounds of some sort of machine moving then the wooden pole Near is tied to is lifted into the air.

Near glances down and sees water that looks to be deep. He struggles as the pole he is tied to is lowered towards the water.

The pole starts going into the water and continues going.

Near moves his feet away slightly as the cool water touches his feet. His feet enters the water as he continues to be lowered into the water until his head is under water and there is a decent sized, maybe a little bigger than needed, gap between his head and the surface.

The machine gripping the top of the pole stops moving so it is still.

Near looks back as he tries to get out of the binds trying to struggle as little as possible so he keeps as much air as possible in him for as long as possible.

The ropes are not coming loose.

He glances up to the surface to see the blurred faces of the people who were there when they put him under water are standing there watching the best they can. He looks away from them and looks around at the water around him wondering if they just planned on drowning him or if there was a shark or something in the water. He spots nothing and concludes that they most likely are just trying to drown him so he focuses on trying to escape again as the need for air starts to build up. He struggles a little harder as his survival instincts kick in telling him to get out of the binds as fast as possible. He is losing air and needs to get out of the water! He stops struggling and he glances down to his chest.

There is another way out of this but he was hoping he didn't need to use this so he could keep it a secret.

He looks back to the binds wanting to use his secret as the last resort. He struggles as hard as he can while keeping his eyes closed tightly then a little bit into that he feels power coursing through his veins. He can't hold it back as his bodies instinct to survive has kicked in so his body is using his secret.

The necklace he had kept invisible since the time he was taken now becomes visible.

He stops struggling and his eyes open to reveal they are glowing white like when someone is unleashing a powerful magic.

The necklaces rectangle blue crystal gem, that has a silver metal protection casing that can't come off, that has his N in black in the middle of the gem nicely visible, starts glowing as well starting with the N then expanding.

There is an explosion but with white light that seems to have come from Near as water goes everywhere, making the pool like place that the water once filled turn into empty area with a few puddles here and there.

The explosion shakes the building slightly and all the evil ones rush away from what they are doing to find out what that explosion is after questioning what it was with one other evil person.

Near seems to be unconscious and the people that were originally there when Near was being put into the water including Rodger peer over the edge to look to Near to try to figure out what happened.

"Is he still alive?" Rodger questions.

Near starts coughing as if answering Rodger's questions. He gets himself back to breathing normally then stops coughing. He is still pretty much out of it.

"Apparently." Jeremy says.

"This doesn't make any sense." Rodger hisses under his breath then turns to give his next orders. "Get him onto the table! We'll need to try to figure out just what the hell happened! And hopefully before he comes too."

They nod and the evil people get work.

A little later Near, who is still coming too from the attempted drowning, is strapped to the metal table again though no one bothered even trying to dry Near.

"This wasn't there when we changed him." The man who changed Near says as they spot the necklace.

"Then get it off." Rodger growls.

The man reaches for it and grabs the gem with its protection case but then his hand starts burning. He lets go of it quickly and jumps back with a yelp of pain. "It burnt me!" He whimpers and looks to his hand confirming it actually burnt him.

"What the hell is that?" A ginger female says as she looks to the gem. "It isn't burning Near."

Rodger clenches his teeth. "Whatever it is we need to get rid of it." He grabs a scalpel and lightly runs the blade across a corner then stops when he notices something on Near's arm.

Near also got a cut that looks like the one on the gem but sized to be the same size the small cut, that's more like a scratch, is on the gem if the gem was sized to be the same as Near.

The cut even looks to be about as deep as the scratch Rodger made on the gem.

"Interesting." Rodger says taking a step back and brining the scalpel away from Near. "Seems that gem is attached to his life." He observes. "Whatever happens to the gem happens to him."

"Is that even possible?" The ginger woman gasps.

"Of course it is." The man who changed Near when the boy first arrived says with an eye roll. "He is coming too. Should we put him back into the cage or do something about that gem?" He asks Rodger.

"Put him back into the cage until we figure something out to do with the gem." Rodger orders.

So that is done and just as Near is thrown into the cage he has mostly recovered from the attempt at drowning.

The cage door is locked and Mello realizes that they actually did try to drown Near but something must have gone wrong.

He looks down and notices the necklace as the door that leads into the room is closed behind the man that just left.

Near sits up and knows Mello saw his necklace. His eyes flicker to the camera and Mello's eyes follow.

The two look back to each other.

"What is that around your neck?" Mello asks in a quite whisper.

Near makes sure his back is to the camera. "It is a family heirloom." He explains just as quietly. "It is given to me at birth and the letter you see in it changes to the first letter of the new owners name. It becomes a part of me and I can use it's magic." He explains. "I was keeping it a secret from those that are here."

"You should bust us all out of here with that damned thing." Mello says still quietly.

"Unfortunately that wouldn't be a good idea. Even if we all got out then we wouldn't be strong enough to face the others and we wouldn't even know where to head." Near tells Mello still quietly.

Mello growls softly. "Then is there anything useful you can do?" He asks still keeping quiet.

"I can make it so every orphan can share their thoughts but I will have to hold the spell up so anyone in this room can let their thoughts be said. That way we have a way to communicate. But keep in mind that no matter how much you want to fantasize on how much I can help in our escape you should already know this but even with my necklace my powers are limited." Near whispers.

"Fine fine. Can you put the connection up?" Mello whispers.

"Not right now. Unfortunately in that explosion, I'm sure you heard, my power right now has been used up to the capacity my body can take. If I try to set up the connection then I will faint causing the connection I tried to put up to shatter." Near says. "Sorry."

"What about opening locks?" Mello asks as they continue to talk quietly. "Maybe when your magic replenishes or whatever."

"I've never tried such a thing since I never needed it before so I don't know." Near responds honestly. His body starts to feel weak and he puts a hand on the floor to try to keep himself up.

Mello notices this and looks to the mattress only for his eyes to flicker back to Near. He sighs and makes sure none of the others will see. He then picks Near up and places him to be laying on the mattress only to move away as Near watches the blonde in curiosity. He just sits by the door to the cage not looking at Near.

Near smiles softly. "Thank you." He says quietly but loud enough for Mello to hear. He closes his eyes and uses his magic straining his capacity even if it means he'll faint. He casts the spell then he faints.

Mello blinks as a white ball of light floats down to by him but no one else seems to notice it. He looks back to Near only to see the necklace's glow die out like Near cast a final spell for now before fainting. He glances up as more balls of light come down until he becomes surrounded by them only for a flash of light to suddenly happen making the light all he can see for a few moments.

But no one else seems to notice anything different or strange.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter seven:

Mello's P.O.V.

I open my eyes I didn't realize I had closed and I find myself floating in a wold of black. I glance around then suddenly a small glow behind me makes me turn to it only to find the gem from Near's necklace is hovering behind me and has grown in size so it is a little bigger than me. I notice the scratch on the corner then remember seeing a cut on Near's arm that looks like that scratch just on a human. "What?" I blink but I shrug it off as who knows what those sick bastards did to Near.

"I am here to allow you one thing. What is it you'd like to see future, past or present. Or would you like to see someone again? I can grant one thing within limitations sadly." A male voice that sounds like it could be female speaks with his or her voice echoing slightly.

I am confused. "What do you mean? This is just some dream right?"

"My master has asked me to do one thing for you. The spell has been cast and now I will do one thing for you as my master has wished." The voice speaks making me think it's the gem somehow talking. "But in the rules of magic there are limitations even for me. Tell me what it is you want and I will let you know if I can do that. If I can't then we will work to find something I can do for you that you wish."

I blink and ponder for a moment.

What could be something that I ask for that should be within the limitations?

I come to a decision. "Can you show me what lies in our future? Depending on what choices we make?" I ask.

"Of course I can." The voice answers. "Keep in mind the future is not set in stone." It reminds me. "Do you still wish to have this happen?"

"Yes." I nod.

"As you wish." The gem glows making me see only white for a few moments as the voice speaks inside my head. "If you make the choice to destroy something that seems to be nothing more than a tool this is the future that is in store."

Suddenly things change and I can see myself sitting on a hill but I cannot see what I am staring at.

Then as if as a ghost Near appears to be standing next to the me sitting on the hill for a moment only to vanish after glancing to the me sitting on the hill with a smile.

The me sitting on the hill lets out a sad sounding sigh. "I'm sorry." The me sitting on the hill looks up to the sky. "I didn't want things to end this way."

A soft breeze goes through the area only for Near's voice seeming to be carried on it.

"It isn't your fault. Live as happily as you can."

The me on the hill smiles very softly as tears comes to my eyes as I seem to continue to stare at the sky. "I will. For you."

Suddenly everything turns white again.

"If you do not make the choice to destroy something that seems to be nothing more than a tool this is the future that is in store." The voice says.

Everything changes again.

This time I see myself standing on a hill beside a big oak tree.

Near walks up from behind me and the me by the tree turns to face him.

We share a smile as he comes to stand next to me.

"Do you still hate me?" Near asks me.

I shake my head. "No."

"I never hated you." Near responds.

I smile. "Then we should put the past of hatred behind us." I say and he nods.

"Is this the way?" Near asks after a moment of silence.

"Yes." I say and we join hands. "Let's go together."

"Right." Near nods and we walk down the hill.

Then the light comes back.

"If you do escape and follow the right plan that gets the ones holding you arrested." The voice says as the next possible future comes into view.

I see myself walking around looking at the people getting medical treatment until I spot Near who I go straight over to. "Hey." I greet him.

He has a blanket wrapped around himself and he is sitting on the open part of the back of one of the ambulances with his feet hanging out. He looks up to me. "Hey."

I sit next to him. "What did they say?"

"They said that I should be alright. The damage wasn't terrible. What about you?" He asks.

"They said the same." I respond.

"That's good." Near nods then leans against me.

I put an arm around him. "Yeah but what do you think we should do now? Just go back to the orphanage? Especially after all that happened….."

"I can't say for sure but I'll follow you. We can go wherever you want." Near responds. "I feel safest with you."

"We'll be fine. We'll find ourselves a nice big house and I'll make sure we are supported. We can even get a pet and maybe a child to keep you busy too." I say.

Near softly giggles, that sounds like an angel, and gives me a smile. "Sounds like you have everything planned out."

I smile back. "Only slightly."

This makes me smile and for some fucked up reason deep down I actually hope that this is the future I end up getting.

The light comes back.

"If you don't escape this is what the future holds for you." The voice says and I see the next future.

I am being held by some of the people who work under Rodger with Near and Matt tied to chairs where I can see them. I get tied to a pole and Rodger steps into the room.

"My my Mello. Isn't this something? A test that is different from ones you and the others already have done." Rodger says in a dark voice.

I growl and glare at him. "What are you planning?" I demand.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" He smirks and moves over to Matt and Near walking behind them since they are placed side by side with a gap between them. "But you should have guessed by now." He grips Nears chin and tilts the mostly albino's boy upwards as well as slightly to the side.

Near tries to get out of the grip but Rodger just grips him tighter.

"How about some fun?" Rodger puts a knife against Near's throat only to look back to me. "Hm? Wouldn't you just love to see your rivals blood to spill?"

I clench my teeth. "You are nothing but a sick bastard you old codger." I growl.

"What did you say?!" Rodger frowns then growls and moves the knife to press against Near's throat enough to make him bleed a very small bit.

I try to tug my hands out of the binds but I can't get them off!

Rodger smirks upon seeing this. "Hm? What's wrong? Did I hit a weak spot?" He lets go of Near moving towards Matt now. "Or perhaps I am going after the wrong one." He presses the tip of the knife against his throat with the side of the blade under his chin so he can tilt the red heads head up.

It's obvious where this is going… Rodger plans to kill us all.

I shake and I scrunch my eyes shut. "Make it stop!" I cry out and I find myself sitting up quickly back in the cell with Near who is still asleep. I am panting and I take a moment to catch my breath. I look to Near and I wonder just which ending the future holds for us at this time. I look away and I look up to the ceiling. "So many choices and all will affect the ending." I sigh under my breath.

There's a groan from Near's direction and I turn to him to see him waking up.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter eight:

"Whoever has taken him have no idea what they have gotten themselves into." Rai, Near's little sister, says.

The Shadows make sounds of agreement.

"We need to begin the search." Rai, Near's sister, says. "We haven't got time to waste."

"Yes ma'am."

The Shadows get to work.

"Whoever has taken brother will pay for it." Rai says. "For they made a big mistake with more than just me and Silver being ready to kill anyone who harms our brother. But the Shadows as well. No fucks with us."

"No one." Anthony agrees, he is the actual leader of the Shadows though Rai has them wrapped around her finger so in a way she is the leader. "Alright people! Let's get going!"

"I hope I'm not late to join the party."

Rai turns then smiles. "Actually. You're early."

…

Near raises his head.

"Do you feel restored enough to set up the connection? We don't need to tell anyone that it is done by using you. I see no reason to let them know that." Mello says quietly so that the cameras can't hear them.

Near nods. He makes sure that the gem is hidden then closes his eyes making it glow softly.

Suddenly the connection is made surprising the rest.

'Act as if nothing is wrong. Don't let those watching the cameras know.' Mello sends his thoughts as Near opens his eyes. 'It's just a little bit of magic that we will be using when we need it. It connects us so we can share our thoughts and speak to each other without actually talking. That way when we need it we have a way to communicate without alerting those evil that are watching us.'

The others start to calm down and the connection channel goes quiet.

'What should we do?' Matt's thoughts float out.

'The channel only can be connected in this room.' Mello's thoughts answer. 'We will need to look for anywhere that might be a way out. We need to start to map out the building to find ways out then devise a plan as we go along.'

'It's safer to keep it to just this room. Can't run the risk of someone evil hearing us. So when you get taken out remember to memorize the building.'

Everyone sends messages of agreement.

….

"They're a little quiet." Jeff says says.

Adam raises his head to the cameras while Jeremy is reading a newspaper.

It is true well as far as they can tell.

Adam shrugs. "Less noise. It's nice to be peaceful right now." He says then leans back to try to see what Jeremy is reading.

…..

'No body forget the plan.' Mello sends his thoughts. 'It is important and don't give away that you are memorizing the building. Don't give any hints.'

The others give one worded responses of agreement to show that they heard.

'Mello I don't think the connection can be held up for much longer.' Near sends his thoughts. 'I think it's getting unstable.'

But the real message to Mello is clear.

_I don't think I can hold it up for much longer right now. _

Mello feared that Near might not have been strong enough to hold the connection for long and this confirms his fears. 'Ok. We'll cut it off for now.' He thinks as his thoughts are shared.

So Near closes his eyes cutting the connection for now.

….

Rodger wipes the palm of his hand along his face in frustration then pinches the bridge of his nose with a sigh. He lowers his hand to his desk a few moments later and turns to the phone starting at it for a few moments.

There is just a few moments of silence before he reaches over picking up the phone receiver raising his other hand to start dialing.

He lowers his hand he dialed with to his lap as he awaits an answer.

Finally after a few rings there is an answer.

"I have a job I need done." Rodger says. "I want all information you can find on Near's past." He orders. "And don't you dare question it or share this with anyone else or you'll be the one next in line for the tests instead of one of the kids. I don't want any panic when there is no need for it. Now put Adam on the line."

There is some clattering as the person who answered the phone heads to give the phone to Adam then some more rustling as it is passed to Adam before Adam's voice speaks into the phone.

"Hello. What can I do for you?" Adam asks just kind of staring off into space by his lap while listening.

"The next batch of kids are hot and ripe for picking." Rodger says. "We pick up at least two by early tonight no later. Do you understand me?"

"Yes sir loud and clear." Adam responds.

"Good. Now I also am thinking that we get the next batch of test cooking." Rodger adds.

"Our choice?" Adam hums as if liking that thought.

"No." Rodger says making Adam's mood dampen slightly.

"Then who?" Adam says as he perks himself up by telling himself that at least they'll be able to start another test right away.

Rodger can't help but smirk as his mind unfolds the next test. "Matt and I have a specific test in mind."

This raises Adam's interest. "And what test would that be?" He questions raising an eyebrow even though right now Rodger can't see him.

…..

Suddenly the doors to where the kids are being kept is opened.

The kids turn to watch who is next while hoping and praying it isn't them.

Two men, Adam and Jeff, walk over to where Matt is.

"This is your lucky day red head." Jeff says sarcastically.

Matt looks terrified at this.

The two unlock the door then drag Matt out locking the door closed behind them.

Jeff takes Matt out of the room with Adam following behind him.

Matt despite being utterly terrified struggles while scanning the area around himself as planned just a few moments earlier. He maps out the lay out he can see in his head while struggling as he tries to think of that in the midst of this nightmare life he is playing a game that he needs to memorize things.

Noting and storing everything he can catch as he is being led away.

"We are here." Adam says as the pause in front of a closed door. He reaches forward to open the door by typing a code.

Matt watches carefully trying to catch the code.

The door is unlocked and Adam reaches up to grip the door handle opening the door.

Matt is taken inside by Jeff and Adam waits till they are inside before following along making sure to move his one hand to the inside doorknob so he can close the door without turning around as he watches Jeff making sure that Matt doesn't get free before the test can begin.

The door is shut with a slight slam.

Matt stops struggling as he looks around himself trying to figure out what is going to happen to him.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter nine:

Matt is forced into a chair in the middle of the room where the chair is the only thing visible. He is strapped in by metal cuffs that are tighter than they should be making his wrists and ankles. He looks around scared.

Was this the end for him?

The people who brought him to the room just leave closing the door leaving Matt to be swallowed up by the darkness.

Matt sits there feeling terrified as he looks around himself to try to make out anything even though it's pitch dark. He has a sinking feeling.

Is he in the chair that will shock him to death?!

He looks down trying to locate the cuffs but as he tries to get out he only gets sharp pain as the cuffs, that are like half round metal plates that cover his wrists and ankles keeping his wrists pinned to the arm rests and his ankles pinned to the solid area of the chair where the legs would have gone if it wasn't solid, dig into his skin. He stops struggling with a hiss of pain then he hears some sounds as if some doors are opening like they are sliding upwards making him freeze. "Wh-who's there?" He questions in a trembling voice.

Silence is the response he gets.

This makes him swallow harshly as he shivers in fright.

What is out there? What is this torture going to be this time?

"Am I going to die today….. Tonight….. Whenever this is?"

…..

Mello turns to Near who is sitting there leaning against the back wall.

Near tilts his head back making the back of his head slightly hit the wall as he looks up to the roof as best as he can in that position.

Mello turns away as the silence passes between them.

What is there to say?

Suddenly the doors open and everyone turns to see who is coming in while hoping they haven't come to take another away.

A newly abducted orphan is dragged inside. She has long black hair that is pulled out of her usual over her shoulder ponytail she would usually wear so now her hair is resting on her back reaching to almost to her mid back. She has wide terrified brown eyes and is wearing clothes similar to what Mello was forced into but a female version and the colors are a little different as if to make it clear she is a girl. Her name is Maria. She is thrown roughly into a cage that is locked behind her.

With that the one that dragged her in leaves not bothering to look to any of the others.

The door slams behind him.

"Maria! Are you ok!" Ghost asks since she was thrown into the cage he is in.

Maria groans feeling a little out of it. "I-I think so." She finally says and she sits up brining a hand to her head.

Ghost moves forward and kneels beside her worried she was hit in the head.

Maria looks around herself. "Where am I?"

The answer was simple.

"Hell." Mello responds.

…..

Matt's breathing picks up the pace as he still cannot see anything. He hasn't heard anything yet either. His breaths are even getting shaky in fright. He closes his eyes for a moment and takes a few deep shaky breaths to try to calm himself. He then opens his eyes when he has calmed his breathing. He then looks around himself trying to see if his eyes have adjusted enough to at least make out very small flashes of any movement.

Suddenly a light shines down onto Matt like a spot light that doesn't shine through the entire room only making a circle around Matt be lit.

Matt looks up with wide eyes then he quickly whips his head back to looking around when he thinks he hears something. His breathing starts to pick up again as he looks around himself trying to get his vision to be adjusted to the lighting now. He looks ahead of himself thinking that he sees something in front of him but it vanishes into the darkness before he can get a good look.

What's out there!?

Matt is getting more and more frightened as the seconds tick away. He swears he can almost hear a clock ticking down towards his possible death.

The darkness almost seems to be creeping closer and closer to him as he continues to stare out around himself into the darkness.

There is an inhuman growl that makes Matt freeze staring off to his right.

His breath has stopped and his heart has skipped a beat. He slowly turns his head to look out in front of himself.

What he sees is these glowing eyes that look menacingly as they just sit there staring at him right in the eyes.

Matt starts to quiver in his seat at the sight of this and he dares to not blink as he has a staring contest with the floating eyes in the darkness.

Until Matt's eyes hurt making him blink.

When his eyes once again open the eyes have moved closer.

He blinks again once his eyes started to hurt once again.

The eyes have once again gotten closer.

This continues and now the eyes are at the edge of the darkness.

Matt holds his breath as he stares at the eyes trying to force his eyes to stay open even as they begin to hurt. He doesn't want to blink…. He doesn't want to face whatever monster is staring right at him.

But his brain forces him to blink and this time when he opens his eyes the eyes are still in the same place.

He calms down a little thinking that maybe whatever he is seeing prefers the dark…. Until a few moments later…..

The eyes move upwards as if the owner of the eyes shifts to stand up.

Matt's heart rate increases at the sight of this.

Right before his eyes the eyes seem to begin walking or moving towards him.

Matt is frozen in his spot.

A foot that looks like a brown animal footsteps out from the darkness as the eye balls turn red like a vampire is said to have.

Matt can only watch with wide eyes.

It continues to move and it comes out into the light.

It's just a blue robotic bunny.

Matt wonders if this thing is dangerous.

Suddenly more eyes appear behind the rabbit that is standing on two feet, in the darkness.

The rabbit moves forward and leans over Matt who only can stare right back at it. It creepily grins showing off pointed then it lunges forward slamming it's razor sharp teeth into Matt's shoulder ripping into the skin as if it was nothing.

Matt's eyes close tightly and he flings his head back with a scream.

…..

Adam watches Matt's torture from the observation room hidden in the darkness. "I'm glad you played that game." He laughs. "Or we wouldn't have the joy of watching this."

Jeff can only grin in a slightly smirking way.

AN:

I made this chapter while listening to a song about five nights at Freddy's which is why a game reference is part of the chapter in a way. I will not play the game probably never since I'm not that brave.

Anyways I hope you are enjoying this story so far.

Reviews are awesome and flamers will be used to cook chicken!

Mello.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter ten:

Mello paces in the cell while Near is sitting leaning bac against the back wall with his knees up slightly.

The silence is almost frightening.

Mello starts murmuring to himself. "Surely there has to be a way." He mummers more to himself then stops pacing with a sigh.

Near who had been watching Mello suddenly very quietly gasps only for his eyes to all glow softly.

Mello's head whips to look to Near at the gasp only to see Near slightly lower his head to look downwards. "Near." He speaks quietly to not alert anyone watching the cameras. He moves over and kneels in front of Near who doesn't seem to notice him. He worries as he wonders what is going on.

…..

"Silver!" Rai jump hugs her brother. "I am so glad that you are here!"

Silver hugs her back. He looks almost exactly like his slightly younger twin Near except for some differences. He has tinted blue clothes, chocolate brown eyes and in his voice there is a very small touch of something like maybe something darker.

The two separate.

"So has Near told you anything?" Rai asks knowing her brothers secret.

Silver also known as Sin shakes his head. "I'm afraid not." He then stares at a spot behind Rai lowering his head enough to cause his eyes to turn red instead of brown like they always do when they are cast under any darkness. "But whoever took him will have Hell to pay." He then lets his eyes turn back to brown turning to look at Rai again. "I'll tell you everything I know from the last time me and him spoke."

Rai nods silently.

….

Mello wonders what he should do and he looks around himself only to stop and take a deep slow breath. "No need to cause any worry." He says under his breath. "If the ones that kidnapped us think something is up then they might investigate and that wouldn't be good right now." He turns back to Near. He reaches forward and puts a hand on his shoulder.

Near gasps slightly jerking then blinks as his eyes fade back to normal.

"Are you ok?" Mello asks keeping his voice quiet enough to not alert anyone who might be watching the cameras.

Near turns to look to Mello. "I know how to get us out of the cells."

Mello perks up. "How?"

"My gem spoke to me and showed me." Near looks down to where the gem is before looking back to Mello. "If I can get an idea on the lock shape I can try making a key to unlock it."

"That's good. Then let's go." Mello is about to stand up.

"Wait." Near says making Mello stop only to look him in the eyes. "There are problems. If I do this then anyone looking at the screens for the security cameras could see then they'll kill us before we can get anywhere. Also once we are out then what? We don't know the lay out of the building or anything. We'll be at a great disadvantage to our kidnappers who know this building."

Mello turns slightly away putting a hand to his chin. "Yes that's true." He says thoughtfully. He hums in thought.

Near tilts his head slightly trying to think of what could be going on in Mello's mind.

"If we only had a way to get a message to the outside world." Mello suddenly says. "They might be able to help."

"Well if we knew where we were I might be able to do that." Near says brining his head back to it's rightful angle.

Mello turns back to Near. "How? How can you get a message to the outside?"

"My gem doesn't have the power to send our location to anyone but I can get a message to my brother. Me and him can use twin telepathy where we can talk to each other through our minds." Near explains. "If I can get a message to him about where we are then he can help us…" He trails off. "However….." He slightly glances down. "We need to figure out where we are before that."

Mello plops to sitting on the ground. "Well maybe…"

….

Jeremy raises his head to look to the surveillance camera images. He sighs putting his newspaper. 'What the hell are you all doing?' He questions in his head. 'Being so quiet that it's almost worrisome.' His eyes narrow. 'Are you thinking of a way to even dare to try to escape.' He then blinks as if realizing something only to burst out laughing. 'Haha. Jeremy you fool. There is absolutely no way they can be planning to escape without making a sound.' He turns away humming a tune as he begins to think of possible ideas for lunch. He looks to a clock. "Ah fuwk it." He says hating his broken nose speech. He lowers himself to dig around by the floor only to grab his lunch pulling back to sit normally as he opens his lunch box to start eating the lunch he had packed for himself.

…

"Where could they possibly be?" L wonders to himself looking over the information he has gathered so far.

Light comes into the room and looks to L who is still working. He watches the other for a few moments then glances away but it's only him and L in the room. He turns back to L and walks into the room heading over to the other.

L turns as he hears Light approach. "I thought you would be going home like the rest of the team." He speaks to the other.

Light moves sitting down next to L. "I don't feel like it."

"But you shouldn't overwork yourself." L counters.

Light frowns at that. "Well you shouldn't be talking about that."

L turns back to his work resting his thumb against his bottom lip. "But I'm used to it and I must. If I don't then the criminals could strike again."

Light stares worriedly at him. "L." He says.

L's eyes flicker to him.

"I know you're stressing yourself out over the case at the orphanage." Light says. "I'm worried for you."

L turns back to the work to do. "Thank you for your concern Light but I can assure you that I will be fine."

Light sighs. "L. Stop acting childish." He tells the other almost sternly. "You can't just keep stressing yourself like this. It isn't good for you."

L's eyes flicker down for a moment then looks back to what he was doing. "I'll be fine." He says trying to be assuring.

Light heavily sighs. "No. You should know this well. The way you are going isn't good for you."

L whips his head to turn to Light. "You don't understand." He says staring strongly into Light's eyes. "Those kids are being tortured until they die. If I can't save them hopefully before anymore die then who can? They need help and if I stop then it'll only cause them to be in that Hell longer making it more likely for them to die." He explains then turns back to his work once again. "I need to stop whoever is doing this. Along with all of the other criminals I have to also look for. It's for the best interest of the rest."

Light is silent for a few moments. "L…" He says quietly with worry.

L is willing to stress himself out like this for the sake of others.

Before now Light had never been sure of what exactly kept L going to work on the difficult cases but he thought it was to keep up his reputation….. However now… He sees that L wants to stop those doing terrible things before they have a chance to do anything worse…. He wants to protect people who cannot protect themselves from such monsters.

It makes Light wonder if something terrible had happened in L's past to make him willing to go to such lengths to help others.

"Then let me help you." Light says with a face of determination.

L turns to Light at this. "You don't need to." He says but gets no more words when Light speaks.

"It's alright." Light gives a smile. "You could use it." He adds. "We need to find them as soon as possible."

L looks about to protest as he lowers his hand away from his mouth but Light puts a finger on his lips shushing him.

"I will not take no for an answer." Light then lowers his hand and turns to look to what he can see of the case.

L pauses for a moment then slides the file closer to Light knowing that there is no way to tell Light to go home to rest.

Light smiles at this.

….

"I see." Rai turns to some other Shadow members. "We need to begin searching at once." She says. "There is no time to waste. Now here is what I want you to look for….."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter eleven:

Matt blacked out at some point though he is certain that he saw more like different versions of the rabbit that viciously attacked him. "Am ….. I … Dead?" He whispers to himself in the darkness.

Then suddenly there is a light like a flashlight searching the darkness.

He blinks and squints since he can't raise his hand up try to cover his eyes.

The light is shining on him and getting brighter and brighter as if approaching him.

Until the light engulfs his entire vision.

Then he blinks open his eyes finding him lying on his back in a small dimly lit cell.

There is light streaming through the small holes of the wooden door and one beam is shining on his eyes.

He groans then shifts getting up only to stop letting out an almost scream of pain that makes him stay there shivering in pain.

"So you are awake." A voice speaks from the other side of the door.

Matt goes silent except slight panting and his heart hammering in his chest. He looks at himself seeing that the wounds were not treated though he expected that.

The voice gains a disapproving tone. "Are you giving me the silent treatment brat?"

Matt swallows harshly too scared to say anything but scared that if he stays silent then something else bad might happen.

"Answer me child!" The voice demands. "Or maybe we should start picking off the others one by one while making you watch."

There's a click of a button and the back wall that was made of stone moves down so now as Matt turns to what is there now he can see slight reflection telling him there's a clear wall.

On the other side of the clear wall is a room with a chair that was most likely the one Matt was strapped into earlier but the room is now illuminated allowing him to see some metal doors that probably slide up and down but are closed right now.

"We can do so much more than what we did to you in there." The voice says. "Guess I should radio in to begin the murder."

"What …. What do you want me to say?" Matt finally speaks up even though his throat is sore and hurts from his screaming.

There's a chuckle.

"Now that's more like it." The voice says. "You finally decide to say something."

There is moments of silence.

Matt opens his mouth to speak again out of fear that someone might be killed if he doesn't but a certain noise silences him.

There is the sound of a lock being unlocked then the door swinging open as the back wall rises to become stone again.

Matt turns to the door terrified. He finds himself staring at a woman.

She is wearing a tightfitting button up black shirt with dark purple pants and black runners. Her died dark purple almost black hair is cut short and messy but some parts reach down to her ears and she has clear water blue eyes. Her skin has a few scars on it but she doesn't look like a bad person but instead someone abused.

"W-Where am I?" Matt questions.

The woman smirks crossing her arms over her chest. "You're at the isolation cages. On the side that can watch the torture or killing of others as you saw." She explains. "Quite nice isn't it?"

Matt quivers.

Are they just going to leave him here? What are they planning!?

The woman starts walking towards Matt. "Then answer me this." She speaks and stops walking only to lean down to look right in Matt's face. "What would happen if we left you here?"

Matt swallows harshly. "I-I would die." He eventually stutters out.

The woman raises an eyebrow. "Die or go insane?"

Matt glances down feeling the woman's unnerving stare is intimidating. "Both." He mumbles loud enough for her to hear him.

The woman chuckles and straightens to a stand normally. "Shall we test that out?"

Matt's eyes widen and he whips his head to look to her. He starts to beg her not to then stops as a thought comes to his mind almost as if Mello or Near have started to rub off on him.

The woman has her eyes closed as she chuckles giving Matt a few seconds.

Matt closes his eyes taking a silent deep breath then opens them pushing aside his feelings. "If you want." He says in the best I don't care voice he can make. "Why would it matter?"

The woman looks to him, eyes opened and narrowed, but clenches her jaw when all Matt does is stare uncaring back at her. "You fucker. Now it wouldn't be worth it if you're going to be like that." She grabs a fistful of Matt's hair then drags him down the hall that looks like an olden day jail area with stone floor and walls but wood doors with no windows.

Matt whimpers and bites his tongue trying to not scream at the sharp pain his wounds are giving him. He is dragged up stairs and he feels he should feel lucky that his hair has not completely ripped out even though he feels a few strands breaking free.

As he hits the top stair his vision goes white then black thanks to the pain.

When he blinks his eyes open once more he knows where he is.

…..

"It is time." Jeff says with a growing smirk. "Bring _HIM_ in!"

Another male named Andy nods then turns heading out to do as told. He has messy blonde hair sticking up in directions like some surfer dude, a biker leather jacket with no shirt underneath and tight fitting stretchy black pants. His eyes are a mix of green and blue as the bottom is green then it fades to be blue at the top. He has a very creepy smirk. He heads to where the prisoners are being held only to crack his knuckles.

The orphans cower away realizing that one of them is going to be taken away.

Andy smirks. "Let's get this game on the road." He says then walks past the others until he stops turning to face a certain cell. His smirk widens as he looks at the male in the cell.

….

"So who shall it be?" Adam asks Jeremy as they watch the cameras.

Jeremy looks thoughtful then the answer comes into his mind. "I twink….."

Adam smirks widely and nods in agreement. "Nice pick." He goes out of the surveillance room to go get the orphan they have decided on.

…..

The two orphans find themselves in a small square room that's all metal and there is some sunlight streaming through a very slim line at the top. They can't really move in the very tight space but there is just a very very small amount of room to move.

As if there is an overhead speaker a voice comes through.

It's Rodger. "Let the game's begin."

The door that were allowing light into the cramped space suddenly slide quickly down as if releasing the two into some sort of wild with big machines as well as a few crates.

There is a few well done strongly barred windows and they appear to be so poorly put that the lighting in the room is clear but dimmer than it could have been.

The orphans shake in fear.

"The rules are simple." Rodger speaks again as if having an overhead speaker system.

The two orphans are not sure they want to hear what this torture is this time.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter twelve:

"Find the hidden weapon and build it then hunt your opponent down to kill him before he kills you. If you both refuse to participate then both of you will be killed. So do not disappoint us." Rodger cuts off the sound at that point.

One of the orphans, too scared of how they might die if they refuse, gets a head start as he dashes out first.

The other hangs back hesitating for a few moments then he too dashes out. He heads to a window and looks around outside… Only there is an empty field with some slight wooded area in the distance. "Hello?" He calls.

Silence.

"SOMEONE HELP US!" He screams.

Still no answer.

With a sinking heart he takes a few steps away from the window.

He turns to the direction he was facing when the door to the cramped space opened. He shivers still feeling scared and cautiously begins to move forward. He is quite jumpy as he walks along.

…..

"And they're off!" The woman says as she had joined them in the surveillance room to watch the little game between the two.

"Let's watch and see how they do." Rodger chuckles.

"Say may I ask how you got here without alerting anyone?" Jeff asks glancing to Rodger.

Rodger leans back as if chilling with his legs slightly crossed and arms slightly behind his head. His eyes on the images projected from the cameras. "Oh they think I am going to track someone down that might help." He hums.

"I see." Jeff turns back to the screens.

….

Matt feels some relief that he is back in the cell. He closes his eyes letting himself relax for now.

"What happened?" The other in Matt's cell asks.

Matt opens his eyes and sees his cell mate slightly leaning over him.

His cell mate is a boy who is a little younger than Matt but older than Near. He has gold eyes, blonde hair that frames his face nicely and his skin is a little pale. He is a little girly in his looks but you can tell he is a guy.

"Just some kind of robots attacked me." Matt explains to his cell mate. "Don't worry about me Jack."

Jack still looks a little worried but nods and moves away from hovering over Matt. "Ok." Is all he says in response.

"They took two this time." Linda whimpers.

"I have a feeling that things are escalating." Mello responds since this conversation isn't something anyone watching would think is suspicious so they don't set up the connection.

Matt blinks as he hears this.

The feeling of possible dreed now hangs over all of them.

"I hope that it isn't." Matt says mostly to himself though not caring who heard. He whimpers as he remembers what he has been through so far.

Near turns to look to a wall as if in thought.

They all hope that it isn't escalating.

…..

The two orphans are making their way through the space going around and turning to avoid things placed there.

Until they stop as they come to an open space like a rectangle.

They look at each other.

One is Ghost and the other is a male named Ember.

Ember is a red headed male who's hair shines lightly like fire when in sunlight. He has dark yellow eyes and slightly tan skin. He is a little smaller than Ghost.

The two swallow harshly upon seeing each other.

Friend against friend.

Both look and notice parts of two guns on a table in the middle of the rectangle.

Each gun is split by a gap in the middle as the pieces are placed nicely on either side of the gap.

The two orphans look back to each other.

Ghost, like before, is the first to move as he rushes for the table.

Ember stands there for a few moments quivering but then his eyes widen as he is reminded that he has to do this or there will be a more than likely worse death in his future. He too rushes forward.

The two begin trying to build the gun.

Ghost is struggling to get one piece on.

Ember is quickly sorting through the parts.

…..

The ones watching in the surveillance room lean forward slightly as the anticipation gets higher and higher on who is going to win.

….

Ghost finally got the piece he was struggling with on and he goes for another piece that he thinks looks right.

Ember has begun the assembly of the gun he has to put together.

….

"Ember is behind." Jeff chuckles.

Adam smirks. "Well both are geniuses. He might still catch up."

"We'll see." Andy says in response.

…..

One of the two puts the piece he just picked up to try to put on the gun he's bulding, back realizing that it isn't right. He gets two more pieces on before he hears a click making him freeze. He looks up to the other finding a gun barrel being pointed at him held shakily.

The other's eyes are watery as tears form. "I'm sorry." He sobs.

_BANG. _

…..

Two people in the surveillance room cheer at the gun shot killing one of the boy orphans.

Rodger's lips twitch upwards in a smile. "Well done." He says then leans forward hitting a button on a keyboard.

….

Suddenly gas comes up and covers the floor slowly rising as well as being green in color.

The one that shot the other drops the gun taking a few steps back almost accidently shooting his own leg but he dropped it in time subconsciously as his conscious mind is narrowed to be focused on the gas.

The gas keeps rising.

The one stumbles back but his back hits a crate.

The gas oozes it's way into his gaping in horror mouth and his nose.

He falls forward to the ground as things fade to black.

A final tear before he's unconscious falls down his cheek splashing down onto the ground below.

When he wakes up he finds himself back in his cell.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter thirteen:

"What happened?" Maria questions.

The male quivers as tears return to his eyes. He stutters an incoherent word as he doesn't notice the blood from the kill is still on him.

"Speak boy!" Mello slightly snaps getting impatient.

The mal bursts out sobbing. "I'm sorry." He repeats for a bit then just sobs. "G-Ghost is dead!" He has another sobbing fit. "I was forced to kill him." He finishes as the only coherent word out of his mess of sobbing words is I'm sorry.

Most of the other orphans feel their hearts sink.

Does this mean that they'll need to kill each other like how Ember had to with Ghost.

Mello turns to Near and nods.

Near closes his eyes and establishes the link.

The connection is full of thoughts of the scared orphans but they calm down as Ember continues to even think that he's sorry.

"Did you find out anything for our map?" Mello asks in the connection.

Ember starts chocking on dry sobs but speaks in the connection. "The windows were barred and we were put in cramp metal square places. Released and had to build a weapon to kill the other or be killed. I looked outside and I saw a field with some trees in the distance. I screamed but no one came or anything."

Mello glances back to Near but holds his thoughts since the other's don't need to know right now.

Near knows either way and nods.

"Where could we be?" Linda whimpers speaking in the connection.

There is footsteps approaching the door to the place where the cells are.

Near quickly cuts the connection.

The door opens and in walks the woman that dragged Matt.

She goes around looking at the orphans then pauses at Ember looking right at him. "Who knew you had a special talent of building guns." She says. "Well done." She then continues on her way only stopping again at Near and Mello's cell.

Mello stares her in the eyes not backing off while Near just kind of watches from where he is sitting.

The woman only smirks. "The famous rivals. Yet you seem quiet." She says.

…

"I must be going." Rodger says. "Keep up the good work." He leaves with that and drives back to Whammy's humming happily. He stops as he sees Whammy's up ahead. "Soon we'll get more taken away. Soon there will be nothing left for Whammy's to stand for." He smirks then quickly puts on a mask of worry as he approaches the gates that open allowing him in. He heads inside once his car is parked in the hidden garage.

A female teacher comes over to him. "Any luck?"

Rodger sighs and glances down shaking his head. "I'm afraid not."

The woman looks disheartened at his words. "Oh….. Ok." She turns and walks away.

Rodger moves away heading to his office.

A smirk returns to his lips.

…

"Maybe if you were us you'd understand that things like this can make even the worst rivals come together to stop those like you." Mello retorts.

"Whatever." The woman says not caring. "It would have been entertaining if you still fought." She says. "But I don't care. You all are going to die in the end. So it doesn't matter either way." She heads off.

…

The woman walks away from the door leading to where the cells mumbling to herself about how she wished the two were still rivals as it would be entertaining.

…

No one else is taken out and Ember cried himself to sleep.

Some of the other orphans managed to fall asleep either on their own or passed out from lack of sleep.

Mello glances to Near who looks to be staring off into space.

…

"How ae we doing?" Rai asks as the Shadows continue to try to find where the Whammy's could possibly be hiding.

"We've found a few possible places but we need to narrow it down to less places since there is too many." One of the Shadows report.

"Ok." Rai agrees. She turns and see Silver is staring off into space. She approaches him but stays quiet waiting for him to snap back to reality.

A few minutes later be blinks back to the real world.

"What was it this time?" Rai asks.

Silver turns to her lowering the hand that had been supporting his head in a slightly thinking position. "Near sent me more about what's going on and some more information." He reports.

Rai settles in a chair across from Silver. "Do share."

Silver shifts to lean forward with his elbows on his knees and hands joined together.

Rai is more relaxed leaning back with one hand in a fist resting on her cheek as if supporting her head and she is watching her brother.

"One of the others there were forced to kill another." Silver says.

Rai frowns. "Then it becomes imperative that we find them." She says worriedly and seriously. "What else did he tell you?"

Silver explains all that his brother has explained to him.

Rai lowers her hand to be like her other hand resting on the arm rests as soon as Silver is finished. She turns to the other Shadows. "Narrow down your searches and fast." She tells them. She then slightly glances down. "I fear we may not have long left."

….

L and Light are working together on the case when L receives a call.

L answers it. "Yes?" He listens.

Light continues working.

L's hand that has his thumb he had placed on his bottom lip falls to one of his knees. "Is that so?"

Light, seeing movement, looks over to L only to frown worriedly.

"Alright keep a sharp eye out and carefully watch the few left." L orders then hangs up.

"What happened?" Light asks thinking that another might have been kidnapped.

L doesn't look at Light instead is looking at a file in front of him. "Ghost …. One of the orphans was found dead. He was shot and his body dumped on a corner not far from the orphanage."

Light gives a sympathetic look to the other. "Well we are on the case. If we work hard we can find them before anything else bad happens." He says trying to cheer the other up.

"I hope so." L agrees with Light and gets back to work.

Watari comes in bringing the two some cake.

L turns to Watari. "Ghost is dead and I want you to see if you can narrow the buildings down to try to find the one most likely to hold the others."

Watari nods. "Working on it." He assures L then leaves to continue working.

L stares at the cake for a few moments then picks it up to get back to work.

They have to find and save the others before it's too late.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter fourteen:

"What up?" Mello asks as Near comes back to Earth as he speaks quiet enough so the cameras can't hear.

"Right now we need to wait." Near responds as quietly as Mello spoke. "Right now we can't really do anything. We don't have a good enough map and if we try to escape now we'll get killed."

Mello goes over and leans against the wall sliding down to sit next to Near. "I'm getting tired of waiting." He groans.

"I know." Near mummers quietly and looks away.

Mello blinks and as he blinks he looks to the other.

Near isn't looking at him.

Mello slightly moves away from the wall as he turns his head to look to Near. He opens his mouth to say something but is unsure what to say so he glances away to the door to their cell. "I guess we all are."

No response.

Mello blinks and worriedly looks to Near again.

Near hasn't looked at him.

Mello's face turns to worry. "Hey what's wrong?" He asks still being quiet enough for the cameras to not hear.

Near blinks then turns to Mello only for a few seconds before turning away. "Nothing important."

Mello frowns. "Bullshit." He growls.

Near's eyes flicker to Mello.

Mello is staring back at him with intensity.

Near sighs and turns his head towards the door but is looking down. "I was just thinking about the past." He lets the other know.

"The past is in the past." Mello says turning to the door as they continue to speak low enough that the cameras don't pick up on it.

"But it sometimes comes back to remind you it's still there." Near responds almost sighing.

Mello looks back to Near.

Near is being more human than he has ever before as far as Mello knows.

"Near…." Mello begins feeling a little speechless. "You're more human than I have ever seen you."

Near blinks then turns to Mello.

Mello stares back in Near's eyes. He then smiles after a few moments. "I kind of like it." He says. "But it'd be better if it wasn't so down."

Near blinks not expecting that. "I just never let myself show it in the orphanage before." He says looking away.

Mello's face falls. "Why?"

"Because if I did it would only evoke more bad reactions I wanted to avoid." Near explains.

"So you're scared to show the human you." Mello says.

Near won't look at Mello as he remains silent for a few moments. "I was scared of the negative effect it would have."

Mello blinks as he listens.

"The bullying would be worse if they ever knew I actually felt things….. I f they knew I was more than human than they thought." Near explains.

Mello shifts and suddenly brings Near into his arms. "Well it's ok. We are all in this together. It's ok to let yourself go."

Near is a little surprised but he relaxes knowing that because of where they are they have become closer. He buries his face into Mello's shoulder letting the other hold him.

Mello holds Near for a bit and is surprised when the boy starts almost silently sobbing though like the two's conversation it's too quiet for the cameras to hear. He turns his head as best he can to look to Near. His face changes to sympathetic.

After all it's probably the first time in who knows how long since Near has been able to let his human side out or even being able to cry.

He strokes Near's back with one hand and plays with the soft white strands of Near's hair. "It's ok." He sooths. "Let it out."

Near keeps his sobs very quiet.

Mello continues to hold the other letting him be human as he whispers soothing words to the other until Near starts to calm down. "Feel better?" He asks.

Near nods and pulls away enough so they can see each other's faces. He wipes his eyes slightly sniffling.

Mello raises a hand and gently rubs the top of Near's head.

"Thank you Mello." Near says. "I've never had someone who cared face to face ever since A and BB died." He explains.

"What about your siblings?" Mello asks.

Near takes a slightly deep breath. "I haven't been able to see them face to face for quite a long time because well Whammy's isn't really open to the world and it was safer." He explains. "I mean I know that I can talk to them but it's been ages since I've had someone care face to face."

"Safer from what?" Mello asks.

Near sighs softly. "The people who destroyed our hometown."

…

"We've narrowed it down to four buildings." One of the Shadows members says. "Ones that have a field and a forest close by."

Rai looks thoughtful. "Alright are they all abandoned or owned?"

"Fifty fifty. Two owned and two abandoned." The Shadow member explains.

"Hm." Rai hums softly in thought. "Now it comes down to which one is most likely to hold them."

"The abandoned one?" Silver offers.

"But what if they were expecting us to think that and put them in an owned one." Rai says. "Or they would have thought of that and went for an abandoned one."

Silver hums in thought. "True. So it's really unable to tell for sure."

"I don't want to risk splitting up. We don't know how many there are and what kind of weapons they'll use against us." Rai says. "We cannot cause a risk to ourselves since then we won't be any help."

Silver nods as he brings a hand to his chin in thought.

…..

Near brought a hand to his chin as if thinking. "How do I put this in shorter terms? It's a long story." He says.

Mello opens his mouth about to say that he doesn't have to share if he doesn't want to.

"Well you see…" Near begins but is stopped.

Mello had put a finger on Near's lips making the others hand fall from his chin. "You don't have to force yourself." He says. "Do you really want to tell me what happened? I don't want you to force yourself."

Near blinks then brings a hand to gently remove Mello's hand. "It's ok." He assures the other.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter fifteen:

It started in a town that was iscolated from the rest of the world except for the rare odd wanderer that stumbles upon them.

This town didn't have modern technology and relied more on nature to survive as they are civilized but they adapted to work with nature.

Little three year olds Near and Silver peer around the corner of their small home to look into the room where their mother is with the town medic.

The towns medic turns to the two brothers. He has black hair that makes him like a movie medic and wears a white apron hand made by his own wife. His kind green eyes seem to shine with the life of the world. "Come in you two. It is alright." He assures the two.

With Silver in the lead the two head inside of the room.

The medic brings the two over to a small bed made from wood from trees that had fallen natural in the forest around the town as well as some man made things like fabric to make it a nice bed that stands on four legs and is almost like a rocking bed for a baby but all made within the town. "Why don't you meet your new little sister?"

The two stand on their toes gently gripping the beds edges to peer into the bed.

There lies a small child wrapped in a blanket with white hair.

"She's adorable." Little Near says with a smile.

The medic nods. "I'm glad you think that." He says.

"If only your father could have stayed with us." Their mother sighs from her bed that is a mat on the ground with a blanket and a pillow that are stuffed with naturally softened feathers that the makers of blankets and pillows softens them with things mixed together that are found in nature such as tree sap.

Little Near goes over to his mother and kneels next to her bed. "Mommy. Why can't father be with us?" He asks.

Mother smiles softly then pets Near's hair. "He has very important duties." She says.

"But I want to at least know him." Silver has come over to join his brother at their mother's side. "Why can't he even visit?" He tilts his head softly.

"Well little ones." Mother lowers her hand to her side especially since she's too weak to pet both of her sons right now. "Your father has responsibilities that if he did come to be with us it could cause some trouble. He has to stay away and only meet me in secret. One wrong step and we could have problems on our hands. Your father works with people who don't believe in that they can have love because they have responsibilities to keep the world safe from certain ancient secrets that could end up destroy mankind." She smiles softly. "It's too dangerous for any of you to meet him because of that."

"Ok mother." Near says with a soft smile.

Over the year mother started getting really sick then a little after Rai turned one was when mother could no longer get out of bed.

"I fear that it is possible that one of the men your father works with saw me and now I'm sick." Mother says in a gentle tone. "Children." Her voice has grown weak. "Take a good look at me. This is why you cannot ever meet your father."

"Save your strength mother." Near, who him and Silver are four years old, says worriedly. "Get better."

Mother smiles sympathetically. "Care for your sister and each other."

"We will mother." Silver promises. "Then when you get better we can all be a family again."

Mother can only smile sympathetically at those words.

Near who had learned some lessons on cooking from mother so he took over most of the around the house stuff even teaching himself a few things like sowing since mother was too sick and weak right now to do anything. He also does the majority of teaching Rai but when Silver can he also helps in teaching her things.

Silver who has always been good with scythes that he made took over making sure they had meat and even sold some meat for money even though they got sympathy from the towns people since the town is like a family that look out for each other.

They would get deals and some would even give them a little something extra to try to help.

The twins did their best to show kindness back by contributing their own part which is another reason they sell some of the meat that Silver hunts down every day or whenever they need it if they happened to have too much on their hands at the time. They managed to get better and better at their new responsibilities as time went on.

Yes everything was working for three years….. Then things changed…

The twins are six years old and Rai is three years old.

Near just finished cooking some food as he has to stand on a chair to reach the counter properly.

Rai comes over and tugs on the bottom of his pants to get his attention.

Near turns to look to Rai. He smiles at her. "Hungry?" He asks.

Rai brightens and nods. "Yes. Brofher." She says. Her speech is pretty good but some things still need a little fixing of the words she's been taught so far.

Like that she calls Silver Sin instead of Silver so it has become Silver's nickname.

Near nods. "Well it's ready." He tells her.

Rai lets go of his pant leg and raises her hands up in a cheer. "YAY!"

The door opens.

"Sin's home!" Rai dashes to greet her other brother.

Near smiles and begins to get ready to set the table.

Just as he is about to start his siblings come in with Rai running in the lead and Silver following not too far behind her but walking.

Near smiles in greeting. "Welcome home brother." He says.

Silver smiles and holds up his catch. "I hit the jackpot!"

"It's so big!" Rai says excited. "There's so many!"

Near smiles a little more. "Seems we'll be good for a bit. You might not have to go hunting tomorrow."

"More time for all three of us!" She dashes out of the kitchen cheering.

Silver and Near have a small chuckle.

Silver heads to where Near had been cutting a carrot. He helps by giving the nife made from an animal bone a wipe with the cloth from the bucket of water to help clean the dishes.

Rai comes back seeming to remember that she is hungry.

"Want to help bring Mother her food?" Near asks.

Rai nods enthusiastically.

Near hands the plate to her then watches as she heads to give it to Mother. He then follows sine Mother needs help to get the food in her mouth.

When he arrives Rai is sitting beside Mother with the plate on the floor beside her.

Rai gently shakes Mother. "Hey mother we brought you food." She says. "Mother wake up!"

Near has a sinking feeling about this. He approaches and kneels next to his sister on the opposite side the plate is on. "She's sleeping." He says gently. "Why don't you go back to the kitchen to eat?"

Rai nods. "Ok." She heads off to do just that.

Almost hesitantly Near reaches over to mother's neck.

He checks for a pulse finding nothing. He pulls back as if shocked.

Silver gasp comes from the doorway making Near turn to him.

The two know what this means, Silver can tell from how Near acted.

Mother is dead.

The two leave the room trying to think of what to tell Rai.

….. They didn't have to ponder it for long.

Suddenly there is strange noises that the town's never heard before.

Rai runs to her brothers and hides behind them.

"Stay here." Silver says grabbing one of his scythes getting ready to defend his siblings with his life if he must. He carefully approaches the window that is just a hole. He peers outside.

Rai clings to Near's leg while Near soothingly pets her hair trying to keep her calm.

Silver sneaks away from the window.

"What is it?" Near questions.

Silver turns to him. "Trouble." He responds. "Get Rai and yourself to the safe room."

The safe room is a room that mother closed off hiding it by a secretly removable wall.

It's for emergencies like now.

Near picks Rai up then dashes for the safe room putting her down when there then grips the wall in the hidden grip places pulling the wall out.

Rai goes inside and Near follows shifting his hold to close the way in behind himself.

He goes over to her and sits on the floor letting her cuddle with him as he strokes her back trying to keep her calm.

After a few minutes the wall moves and Near gets ready to protect Rai only to relax when Silver comes in with his scythe and closes the wall behind himself.

He joins his siblings. "Those new people mean no good will." He explains. "It's safest to stay here. All children are being told to stay inside."

"That's not good." Near says.

"No it isn't." Silver agrees.

Suddenly they fall silent as there are sounds of people moving about the home.

Rai buries her face into her brother Near's side.

"Check the whole house." A deep voice that is not familiar speaks. "No one who lives in this town gets out alive."

A few minuets later there are the sounds of the people hurriedly leaving.

After a few moments Near sniffs the air.

"I smell smoke." He worries out loud.

There is silence then there are the sounds of fire.

Silver hurries to the hidden door and opens it.

Smoke hurries in and there is obvious fire.

"RUN!" Silver turns back to his siblings.

Near picks Rai up holding her with her face on his shoulder trying to keep her from breathing too much smoke. He hurries out with Silver.

They rush of the house only find the entire town up in flames with people burning or trying to escape but they seem to end up dead.

Silver takes the lead dashing along through town with Near following.

The two try to ignore all the burning dead bodies and anyone that there is no way to help them.

Rai tightens her grip on her bother.

Near gasps as some flames lick at him along with Silver and Rai.

Though Silver and Near are getting the worse injuries from the flames or collapsing buildings.

They run and make it out of town and head up a hill in a more loosely dense wooded area. They stop falling to sitting as Near lets Rai sit on the ground.

Near and Silver cough for a little bit since they breathed in smoke but manage to calm down to slightly panting for a few seconds.

Rai walks a few steps past her brother only to watch as their hometown burns.

Near and Silver also turn to watch as their hometown is up in flames making the three sad.

Near looks away lowering his head.

Rai rushes over to Near gripping his arm burying her face into his face.

Silver moves closer to his siblings and brings them into his arms.

The three siblings sit there crying for a few moments then Silver speaks.

"We should try to find another town." He says.

Near nods in agreement.

Rai looks worried and scared.

Silver pets her hair. "It's ok." He assures her. "We'll protect you."

Rai nods and sniffles.

The three begin their trek through the woods for almost a week then they arrive at the city that looks so grand compared to what they are used to. They feel ready to collapse but they walk on into town. They make it to an alley before collapsing from hunger, exhaustion and dehydration.

When Near opens his eyes he is in some room staring at the ceiling.

He glances around himself.

Silver is laying on a couch across from the couch Near is laying on while Rai is laying on a mattress on the ground.

"Good to see you awake." A voice speaks.

Near turns to the voice as the male looks down at him.

"My name is Anthony. I am the leader of the Shadows. I take it you three don't have any place to go. Since we found you collapsed in the alley way."

Near nods feeling safe under Anthony's kind gaze.

Anthony smiles. "Alight well you're free to stay here."

And so the three did.

They were treated well and got better but one thing started to bug Silver and Near.

The ones that destroyed their hometown is still out there and if they find out that they escape it could mean danger.

So they came up with a plan.

Rai would stay here and the two of them would leave.

They of course explained to the Shadows and Rai what the plan is and why.

"You're always welcome to stay for as long as you want. Just give us a call if you need anything and I mean anything." Anthony says.

"Please be careful." Rai says and Near is gad that the Shadows have become like another family to them.

"Don't worry. And thank you." Near says.

They give their goodbyes at least for now then left.

Silver and Near went to town then split up because it's for safety just in case the people who destroyed their hometown starts looking for them.

Near wanders the streets now on his own until he met A and BB.

They meet in an alleyway.

The two stand there facing Near who has also stopped.

"Better be careful kid." A speaks. "Alleys aren't safe for kids like you."

Near wanted to say 'what about you?' since the two are a few years older than he is at the age of seven but he has a feeling that it wouldn't turn out well. "I'm just looking for a place to stay?"

A pauses and looks worried. "You mean you are homeless?"

Near nods.

BB opens his mouth but A interrupts him.

"Then you should live with us."

BB turns to A mouth closed but the look on A's face tells him all.

Near reminds A of himself the first day he was left to live on his own in the streets almost a year before he met BB.

So BB turns back to Near.

"It's ok. Come live with us." He agrees making A hug him happy that his love agrees.

"Names Always After." A introduces himself. He is a male with light brown hair that reaches to a few inches past his ears, sea blue eyes, a navy blue pull over hoodie, slightly baggy jeans and black runners.

"And I am Beyond Birthday." BB adds.

Near introduces himself to the two.

"Well welcome to the family." A says with a smile then kisses BB's cheek.

So Near joined them and they even showed him their small underground home hidden in an alley that has a secret hatch.

Near became like a son to them and Near learned the harshness of the streets though he feels very lucky that he has A and BB to help him.

They did what they had to get by including stealing, forcing someone to give it to them with a knife in their face.

A and BB, who are expert fighters on the street, taught Near fighting until the three became such a great trio that people started to fear getting into fights with them more than they have before now that Near is with the two.

One day Near was walking along looking for a good store that might have something only to turn a corner finding Watari who is dressed in more normal attire.

Watari turns and Near knows from that look. He is here because he heard about A, BB and Near.

Near turns and runs luckily not feeling like fighting today heading for A and B hearing Watari chase after him. He turns into an alley and skids to a stop finding A and BB in the alley out of the place they call home.

Watari turns the corner and stops. "I've been looking for you three." He says.

A pushes Near behind him and B steps forward ready to protect his love and son.

"I mean no harm." Watari explains. "I am here because I heard about you three and there are rumors that you are quite smart. So I have come to offer a better home for all three of you."

"We already have a home." B growls in warning.

"An alley…" Watari trails off. "Please I believe that you will really like the place I am offering."

A glances back to Near then before B can speak he turns back to Watari. "How safe is it?"

"Very." Watari answers as if it is simple. "All adults have a very very detailed background check and tests before even being considered to being hired."

"Then it is safe for our son." A says.

"Always?" The eight year old Near looks wide eyed at A.

A turns with a gentle smile. "We are also coming." He assures him. "We just want you to be safe."

So they joined Whammy's house orphanage.

The three also became feared there and they stayed close as a family as none of the other kids seemed to like them.

Years later when Near was ten….. A died from a stab wound that ended up with him dead before he could say who had managed to get him.

BB left promising Near that one day they would all be together again but Near understood that BB believed that this was L's fault since they were put pressure to possibly be the next L then A died after he kept saying he didn't want to be the next L despite him in first with BB second and Near third. He was going to avenge his lover.

But he ended up caught dying later.

Near distanced himself becoming the emotionless boy playing with toys and puzzles.

AN:

This isn't meant to go into too much detail but I hope it was still alright.

Reviews are awesome and flamers will be used to make fudge!

Mello.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter sixteen:

"And that's what happened." Near concludes still speaking so only Mello can hear.

Mello feels speechless at first.

Poor Near.

"I never knew why those people destroyed my hometown or who they were." Near sighs looking down.

Mello puts a hand on Near's shoulder getting the other to look back to himas he speaks also still quiet enough for only Near to hear. "I'm sorry that happened."

"Not your fault." Near says.

"Well it's only fair now." Mello says letting go of Near's shoulder. "You see my story of what happened to me isn't really like yours." He begins. "I was born in a family where my mother was poor and my father refused to support us. He was quite the asshole to us which is probably where I get my attitude from. Sometimes my mother would sell herself just to help us get by and my father was outraged. He walked out on us to buy a mansion for himself when my mother got pregnant with one of the men she had slept with child. She was so distraught that in the end she took her own life as I accidently witnessed. I was supposed to be in bed though the beds were ratty mattresses mother found and cleaned. I ended up walking in on her in the kitchen just as she took her own life. I screamed and was lucky that my neighbors were up and heard me. I was sent to an orphanage when my father who had so much money he didn't know what to do with, would not take me in. When it was found out that I was a genius I got taken to Whammys about a year or two before you and A with BB came."

"I'm sorry that happened to you." Near says.

Mello puts an arm around Near. "Don't be sorry. In some ways I am glad that I got to go to Whammy's."

Near blinks in question at Mello.

Mello smiles. "Because I wouldn't have met you or Matt otherwise."

….

Rai paces in the main room getting nervous since even though she knows that Near is alive thanks to Silver she worries that they won't make it in time.

Silver has also been restless.

The Shadows are working to try to hurry to narrow done which place the orphans are most likely in.

"As fast as we can!" Anthony says encouraging them as he works to keep them organized to help make it faster. "We need to find them."

…

"We should probably get some sleep." Mello says. "I have a feeling we will need it." He brings Near over to the bed and they curl up together to stay warm.

Near shifts and gives a small sweet kiss on the edge of Mello's lips before curling back up snuggled against Mello.

Mello blinks in surprise then ends up watching Near sleep for a bit before he too drifts off to sleep.

…..

"We need to pick up the pace!" Rodger says as he leads some of the people working under him through the orphanage to collect another orphan for their torture tests. "If we slack off then they will be found. We must make the tests more often and more frequent." He stops at the stairs then turns to the three with him. "Am I understood?"

The three nod to show that they understand.

"Good." Rodger says then leads them up the stairs so that they may collect the next orphan to be taken away.

…

Maria raises her head since she had been laying down hoping to get some sleep, when another newly abducted orphan is thrown into her cage that she had once shared with Ghost.

This new orphan is a male. He has red hair with black roots, tan skin and currently uncertain looking blue eyes. He looks to Maria.

"Welcome to Hell." Maria says as if in greeting to the orphan. "I mean it. Welcome to Hell Hunter."

The doorway to the cages are opened again and Jeff takes an orphan taking that orphan out so they may continue with their torture.

The orphan taken happens to be the player Brendon. He has black hair that is messily cut, brown eyes and slightly pale skin. He is tied to a post.

"Drowning take two." Jeff calls.

Brendon is lowered into the water tied to a wooden pole with his hands wrapped around it backwards.

….. He did not make it out alive …

Jeff orders the pole to be brought up when he believes that Brendon is dead only to confirm it. He then turns as Jeremy comes over to take the body to go dump it somewhere. "Let's get the next orphan!" He orders.

…..

Mello groans not wanting to wake but he does end up waking up.

Things seem quiet … Very eerily quiet.

He shifts to sit up only to remember Near is cuddled against him. He looks down to the other who is sleeping.

"Mello?" Matt's voice speaks. "You awake?"

"Yeah." Mello confirms. "What's up?"

"They've escalated. They are taking more and more orphans faster than before." Matt tells him.

Mello's heart sinks.

Then Jeremy comes in only to drag Matt away.

Mello gets up accidently waking Near. He rushes to the door to the cell unable to do anything but watch as Matt is forcibly taken away.

Near looks sympathetic at Mello as he has deduced that Matt was taken.

Mello steps back from the cell door then turns to Near.

Near reads Mello's eyes.

'We need to escape or we will die.'

"It's dangerous. We are most likely to die." Near explains to Mello quiet enough so the people listening to the cameras can't hear.

"They're taken us faster and faster." Mello hisses quietly.

Near looks thoughtful for a moment then looks like he has an idea. "I think I have a plan. First we'll need a distraction, keys made and timing." He is about to explain his plan when suddenly there is a flickering light that makes both of them pause.

….

"Please tell me you've found them." Rai says anxious.

"We almost have it. We're narrowing it down between the final two." A Shadow's member explains.

"Hurry." Rai says.

"Promise we will go as fast as possible like we've been doing." The Shadow member responds.

…..

Watari comes into the room making L and Light turn to him. "I've been able to narrow the locations to two locations."

"Then let's take a look and narrow it down to the right one." L says.

Watari nods and comes over giving the two the papers on the locations.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter seventeen:

Mello and Near turn to the light as it flickers.

It then goes back to shining normally.

So the two brush it off ….. But too early …

The light goes out and Near notices the camera seems to have powered off too.

"A black out!" Near says glad that this has happened. "This is our chance."

…

"We've found the location they are most likely at!" One of the Shadow's members says suddenly.

"Good where?" Rai demands. "Everyone get ready and fast. We're going to save Near." She adds after being shown the address.

….

"These two locations do seem like good places to hide a group of kidnapped orphans." Light says.

Watari gets a call on his cell and answers it moving away to not bug the two.

When he comes back he looks grave. "L." He speaks and the two turn to him. "The few orphans left at Whammy's have all been taken. There is no orphan left at Whammy's and the bodies have been appearing more frequently."

L's face falls. "Then we must hurry." He says. "If we don't then they will kill all of them before we can stop them at this rate." He turns back trying to pick out which place it is.

Light rejoins.

…

Near closes his eyes and concentrates using his magic to create keys for all the locks since no one can see them escaping without the cameras. He makes the keys out of magic and clenches his fist since he's using a lot of magical energy at once which is draining him.

Mello gives an encouraging look not wanting to break Near's focus.

Near unlocks the cells and once they are unlocked he stops using magic making the keys disappear.

Mello smiles and puts an arm around Near. "Good job." He says.

Near smiles too. "Thank you."

Mello helps Near up since Near is going to be drained but he assures Mello he should be able to walk on his own soon. "Let's go!" He calls to the others.

The orphans rush out and once out they wait for Mello and Near since they don't know which way to go.

"STOP!" Adam screams seeing that the orphans are escaping.

The orphans get ready to fight even as Adam pulls out a gun.

…..

Matt is tied to a wooden pole with his arms wrapped around it backwards. He is also blindfolded. His heart rate increases.

"Black out or not it's your time to die." Jeff says with a slightly pissed voice about the black out.

Matt struggles with whimpers of fear.

The sound of at least two guns being clicked to get ready to fire is heard.

….

"Scatter!" Mello orders. "Find a way out and get out of here!"

The orphans split up going whichever way they can to try to find the way out.

Adam goes after Mello and Near.

Mello swiftly shifts Near to his back. "Hang on." He dashes down a hall that appears empty since the others had run ahead of them and had scattered.

Adam chases after the two and takes out a radio. "Red alert! Red alert! They are escaping!" He calls into it. "They've scattered! Kill them before they can escape!" He then puts full concentration on trying to stop Mello and Near.

….

Linda bursts into a room only to freeze as soon as she sees the room she is in.

Jeff and Jeremy turn to her both holding guns and Matt is tied up.

Linda reacts quickly and rushes towards Matt.

Jeremy shoots at her but has bad aim when it comes to a moving target.

Linda begins tugging at Matt's binds. "I'll get you out of here." She promises.

"Stop!" Jeff aims his gun at Matt. "Time to rid ourselves of two pests."

Linda finally gets the ropes off and Matt tugs the blindfold off thankful.

Matt suddenly slams Linda to the ground in time for Jeff's shot to miss. HE gets up and tackles Jeff.

Linda hesitates but seeing Matt bravely fighting makes her go to tackle Jeremy.

The fight has begun ….

_BANG._

…..

Mello keeps running even as he pants.

"Mello." Near speaks. "Put me down."

"I'm … Not ….. Going …. To … Leave ….. You …. Behind." Mello pants out.

Near shifts and his lips brush against Mello's ear. "Don't worry. I'm going to use my magic."

Mello hesitates but then turns a corner stopping to let Near stand on his own.

Near turns to face Adam whop skids a little trying to stop in time to get around the corner. He mentally concentrates on his magic. He has only one shot at this then he and Mello will have to keep running.

Adam begins to charge right at them with a loud battle cry.

Near feels a rush of power when Mello brushes a hand with his own. He raises his free hand up and sends out a magical blast knocking Adam back.

Adam slams into the wall leaving an indent of his body slightly splayed out. He seems to peel off since Near's blast fades to sparkles that disappear midair. He falls face first to the floor. "The cat's gone and took the French toast." He mummers feeling out of it.

Mello catches Near when Near stumbles about to fall.

"We need to go." Near says.

Mello nods and supports Near as they hurry away from Adam who lays there on the ground about to go unconscious as he is out of it as well as thanks to the forceful hit against the wall.

…..

Rai hops onto her motorcycle with Silver joining her.

They put on the tinted helmets as the other members of the Shadows get on either in cars or at most two others are on motorcycles.

Rai takes the lead driving her motorcycle as the rest of the Shadows follow racing as fast as they can to save Near and any others trapped in that building.

….

"It is most likely this one." L says as they come to a conclusion. "It is the one best to keep the screams unheard by anyone."

Light gets to his feet. "Then let's go."

"It's dangerous." L begins to tell Light not wanting to endanger the other.

"It's ok. We have no time to waste." Light says.

L knows from analyzing Light for so long that he knows when Light will not take no for an answer. He gets up as well with a nod.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter eighteen:

Mello and Near continue to hurry to try to find the way out as Mello continues to support Near. They are forced to stop when they find themselves facing three of the people who work with Rodger.

….

Matt turns with wide eyes.

Linda is knocked backwards and tumbles onto the ground ….. Shot ….

Matt growls and kicks Jeff in the head hard enough to knock him out cold. He then jumps Jeremy slamming hard punches to his face until Jeremy is too knocked out and Matt has bloody sore knuckles. He rushes over to Linda and kneels next to her. "Linda!"

Linda blinks her eyes open weakly. "Matt ….." She weakly speaks in a hoarse voice.

Matt gathers her into his arms.

Sure he found her a little annoying sometimes but with the trauma that they've all been through it's brought the orphans closer.

Linda slightly smiles up at Matt as a drop of blood comes from her mouth only to slide from the edge of her mouth down her cheek.

Matt tires to wipe it away only ending up smearing it on her cheek.

"I … I …." Linda struggles to speak.

"Shh. Save your strength." Matt shushes her gently then looks to her wound.

"I … L-lo …. I ….. Love … You ….. Matt ….." Linda says weakly as her life starts to slip from her.

Matt looks back to her face.

"My …. My ….. Name …. Is ….. Lindsy ….." Linda's eyes slip closed and she goes limp and begins to go cold in Matt's arms.

Matt realizes in horror that Linda …. Or …. Well ….. Lindsy ….. Is dead. "I'm sorry I couldn't save you." He apologises to her brushing some hair out of her face. He gently lays her down. "May your spirit find it's way to heaven." He gets to his feet, turns and dashes out of the room not able to do anything to help her now. He tries to find a way dashing off in one direction.

…

Mello growls ready to protect Near from these people.

Near stands having just enough strength to do so.

Mello opens his mouth to say only to close it in surprise as Near grips one of his hands. He grips Near's hand back.

Near shivers as if feeling power go through him.

Mello understands and whispers to Near. "My love will give you strength when you need it."

Near waves his free hand out in front of him creating a slightly curved line heading for the three.

It hits knocking them back and though it may not be as powerful as the blast the three end up hitting the wall head first luckily.

Near collapses only for Mello to catch him.

"It's ok. I've got you." Mello assures him. He shifts the other so he is carrying him bridal style. "Rest. I'll get us out of here. I promise. Just don't strain yourself."

"I need to." Near responds. "We need to get out of here."

"It'll be ok." Mello assures Near giving him a small peck on the lips. He then raises his head determined only to once again start running to try to find a way out.

"Halt!" A voice calls from behind them as someone else working with Rodger has spotted them.

Mello keeps running. 'Got to get Near out of here.' His thoughts seem to revolve around getting them out of here right now. He suddeny skids to a stop almost crashing into Matt. "Matt!" He says happily. "You're alive!"

Matt looks worriedly at Near.

"He's used a lot of his strength to get us this far." Mello explains.

The heavy footsteps remind Mello that they are being chased.

"Let's go." Mello begins running in the direction that Matt came from.

"Ok. Back I go." Matt says with a slight shrug as he turns then joins Mello in racing away from their pursuer.

….

Rodger gets a call and answers it. "Hello?"

"Rodger sir." One of Rodger's men say. "There's a black out and the brats some how got out of their cells. They scattered!"

"KILL THEM YOU FOOLS!" Rodger orders loudly as he slams a fist onto his desk. "I'll be coming to join you soon." He slams the phone onto the receiver only to growl. "Those damn brats." He gets up. "It's time to finish them off." He heads out to leave as he dismissed all the adults in the orphanage until further notice. He goes into his car and speeds away to get to the building as fast as possible.

….

Mello and Matt look around themselves searching for a way out as a woman joins in on the chase.

Matt is shaking feeling fearful.

"Keep your head in the game." Mello orders Matt. "We have to get out of here?"

Matt nods and turns with a little more focus … As best as he can with his short attention span.

But he does his best since he has not only his life on the line but Mello and Near's lives as well on the line right now.

They continue running.

"Kill them!" The woman orders. "We need to kill them before they can escape!"

This makes the three boys hearts race.

Near shifts feeling guilty about Mello having to carry him.

"It's ok Near." Mello says in an assuring way. "Just don't worry. I won't let them hurt you." His grip tightens only enough to show he is protective of Near.

Near slightly glances back to their pursuers.

They continue to chase the three with determined angry eyes obviously not about to give up at all.

Near turns back to Mello and cuddles close to him feeling a warmth inside of him.

It's a warmth that he welcomes even though he can't put it in words that would describe it the way it feels except with the closest being wonderful.

Mello and Matt keep running for a bit longer but then have to skid to a stop.

AN:

I made up Linda's real name.

I hope you are enjoying and yeah I keep posting since I am on a roll with this story.

Enjoy.

Trying not to rush it so hopefully it is working.

Reviews are awesome and flamers will be used to make cake!

Mello


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter nineteen:

The Shadows arrive screeching to a stop only to park where they've stopped.

Rai throws her helmet off rushing inside Silver not far behind her as he grabs his scythe he brought with him strapped to his back.

The other Shadows also rush in to go help.

As Rai and Silver begin rushing around trying to find anyone they stop when Maria and another orphan are running towards them being chased by two males.

Rai dashes forward pulling out the gun she had grabbed before leaving. She aims and fires at the two males making them fall to the ground as Silver assures the two scared orphans.

Silver points them in the right direction. "Go that way. Get outside and hide behind one of the cars." He says then joins Rai as they dash onwards heading deeper into the building.

…..

Mello takes a step back as it is Rodger who is blocking their path.

Near climbs out of Mellos arms but still slightly leans against him.

"And where do you twits think you are going?" Rodger says with a growl in his voice.

Mello glares a death glare at Rodger. "Anywhere as long as it's away from here."

"Oh I think that can be arranged." The woman grabs the gun from the one beside her then aims it at Mello as the three start to glance back.

"Mello look out!" Near says as he realizes what's going to happen.

_BANG!_

….

Rai and Silver keep running searching the building as they and the Shadows help any orphans they can along the way directing them to the quickest way out they spotted.

"Oh where is he?" Rai says worriedly. "This is the right building but we haven't had a chance to ask any of the people chasing those kids for answers before they were at least knocked out."

"Don't give up hope." Silver says trying to cheer her up. "We will find our brother." He says standing tall to assure her using his confidence.

Rai turns to her brother then smiles and nods.

They continue along their way dashing through the halls guessing which way to go to try to find Near.

Silver deep down has a bad feeling. 'Where are you?' He sends a message to Near through their minds.

The two siblings know that the family heirloom, that is the jewels each family member of their family gets that holds magic and is attached to their very lives, won't be able to locate Near when they need all the strength they can keep right now.

Rai looks side to side nervous and anxious for any possible way that Near could be in.

Silver is also worried for their brother.

….

Things seem to suddenly go into slow motion as the other two's eyes widen as they watch the one shot start to fall back.

"NEAR!" Mello cries out and catches Near only to fall to his knees.

Matt charges and attacks the woman trying to wrestle the gun from her.

The one the woman stole the gun from jumps to start wrestling Matt too.

Rodger smirks widely and evilly. "Oh too bad." He says with fake sympathy.

Mello looks scared down into Near's eyes.

Near is alive but weak.

Mello's eyes widen when he sees that the bullet when straight through the gem and into Near. His eyes start to blur with tears. "No …."

"Mello …" Near says weakly as his eyes start to close.

A man working under Rodger comes over with a flamethrower that he found in a storage room.

Rodger takes it and aims it at Near. "Say goodbye." He fires.

"NO!" Mello quickly shields Near's body with his own only to wince as the flames lick at his skin.

When Rodger stops believing that they are dead then Mello shivers feeling pain that ends up making where he was hit numb as he feels some blood running down his skin.

Near had slipped into unconsciousness and is getting cold.

Mello stares down helplessly at him. "Near …." He then falls forward just after a tear falls off of his face down onto Near's cheek. He falls into blackness passing out from the pain.

…

Rodger tosses the flamethrower to the one beside him then reaches for something in his back pocket.

…

Mello opens his eyes finding himself staring at a beautiful blue sky. He blinks a few times then sits up only to look around.

A single tree on one side and Near sitting not too far in front of Mello as they both are on a hill.

Hearing Mello shift Near turns to him only to get to his feet heading over to the blonde.

Mello quickly hugs Near. "Oh Near. You're ok."

Near is silent for a few moments just letting Mello hug him. "Mello …." He begins.

Mello feels his heart drop.

"I'm dead … Mello ….. And you're still alive right now." Near explains.

Mello pulls away enough to look at Near's face.

Near's eyes widen as he sees Mello's face. "Oh Mello your face." He gently reaches up trailing a finger along part of the scar Mello has received that in this place seemed to have healed his burns into a scar.

Mello feels a tingle of pleasure as Near touches the scar. "It's ok." He assures Near.

Near looks into Mellos eyes.

They watch each other for a bit.

"Near." Mello begins to say something as he leans his forehead against Near's own. "I have something important to tell you."

Near watches Mello's eyes silently telling him that he is listening.

Mello smiles softly though on one side it feels a little strange with the new scar. "Near." He begins. "I believe I have denied this to myself for a long time without realizing it." He says. "Please trust me when I say that I have a certain feeling for you."

"May I ask somethings?" Near asks.

Mello nods.

"Have I been a thought in your mind?"

"No."

"Do you think that I look alright?"

"No."

"Do you like me?"

"No."

"Am I someone you want to be with forever?"

"No."

"Would you cry if I left?"

"No."

Near frowns at Mello's answers and begins to pull away but Mello wraps his arms around Near's waist pulling the other against him.

"You do not look alright, you look gorgeous more gorgeous than I ever thought possible. You aren't a thought in my mind, my mind is always filled with you." Mello says once again leaning his forehead against Nears. "I don't like you, I love you. You aren't someone I want to be with forever, you're someone I need to be with forever. Finally I wouldn't cry if you left, I would die if you left."

Near blushes heavily at Mello's words and finds himself speechless.

"I'm not letting you go alone." Mello says moving his lips closer to Nears as their forehead contact starts to break to allow this new movement as Mello's eyes lower to being half open. "I can't live without you." He gently moves his lips to against Near's own as his own eyes close.

Near's eyes lower stopping for a moment at half open then closes them as he kisses Mello back.

No tongue but a kiss full of love.

They break apart when they need air and they smile happily at each other.

"Let me walk with you." Mello says.

Near nods and they turn to the way Near was facing when he was sitting on the hill.

"So it's this way?" Mello asks.

Near nods. "Yes it is."

Mello smiles a little more. "Then let us get moving."

The two walk down the hill and a distant gunshot rings through the air bt neither really seem to notice.

AN:

The saying Mello is saying is one version of some versions floating around on the internet. I just kind of put it in my own words but just thought you'd like to know that when Mello is telling Near he loves him the way it happens is not my original idea even if I kind of put it into my own words. Just thought I'd share if any wanted to know. It's up to where Mello says the stuff with I don't like you I love you then that's it for the kind of quote I am referencing.

Mello.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter twenty:

L and Light are leading a group of police cars that have their lights on though it is Watari who is driving.

The other two are sitting the back seats.

L looks outside with worry that they won't make it in time.

Light puts a comforting hand on L's shoulder getting him to turn bac to Light with a thumb resting on his bottom lip.

"We're almost there I'm sure." Light says trying to assure L.

L glances away. "I just have a bad feeling." He sighs softly.

Light pulls L into a hug. "Don't give up hope."

"I'm not." L responds.

"Well then just remember that there hasn't been any new bodies yet. There is the chance that there are survivors." Light says with a soft gentle smile.

"I know. It's just the orphanage is where I went to." L sighs. "The kids look up to me."

"And you are rushing to save them." Light points out.

L nods and leans against Light finding it kind of comforting.

Watari can only smile as he catches a glimpse of it through his mirror at a second long glance to it. He goes back to concentrating on the road.

Light's P.O.V.

I love you L.

My mind forms the words that haven't slipped past my lips right now.

Though right now isn't the right time for such things.

I stroke L's soft hair as he stays in my arms.

It makes me happy to have him in my arms to tell the truth.

He's so warm and so real.

I will tell him how I feel just not yet.

There's nothing I would not do for him.

_Nothing._

I mean it.

He is my world, my life and my everything.

I would even give up being Kira for him and just to be with him.

Perhaps I should the first chance I get.

If I am Kira then I can't be with this lovely male I love so much.

Good and evil cannot be together.

Then it's settled.

I'll give up being Kira the first chance I get.

"We're here." Watari says as if brining us back into reality.

No one's P.O.V.

Rai and Silver keep running and they turn a corner only to freeze.

There laying on the ground is Mello and Near with four people, including Rodger, surrounding them.

Rodger's pistol is aimed at Mello.

Neither Mello or Near seem to be moving.

Rai's eyes widen. "NO!" She fires at the two closest to them which is on the opposite side that Rodger is on.

Silver lowers his head letting shadows cast from his bangs send his eyes into darkness making them turn red as he looks pissed off. He charges and dashes to the side in time to avoid Rodger's bullet sent at him. He jumps into the air slashing at the man next to Rodger making the man scream. He slashes at him until the man falls back with lifeless eyes. He turns to Rodger with his eyes still under darkness keeping them a red color.

Rodger's heart rate picks up speed at the sight.

Silver begins to advance at Rodger and Rai drops her gun rushing over to Near and Mello's bodies.

Rai checks for pulses on either only for her face to fall in horror.

Silver slashes at Rodgers hand knocking the gun away as Rodger lets out a surprised yell of pain.

Rodger's eyes widen as he cradles his injured hand and he realizes that now without his gun that has rolled too far away for a quick grab he is defenceless. He looks to Silver feeling terror run through his body.

Silver backs Rodger up towards a wall.

Rodger blinks as he notices a gem that looks like Near's except with an S instead of an N. "So it runs in the family?"

"Yeah." Silver says with venom in his voice. "We call them a family heirloom since everyone in our family gets one." He says as he continues to back Rodger up towards the wall.

Rodgers back hits the wall and he begins to panic breathing heavily.

Silver continues to advance and presses the outward curve of his double sided blade scythe against Rodger's throat. "And now it's time to pay for what you have done." He presses the outward bend blade harder against Rodger's throat.

The scythe starts to cut into his throat as seen by the drop of blood that slides down Rodger's neck.

Rai's sobs makes Silver's eyes flicker over to her as he pauses giving her a gentle look with his currently red eyes.

Rodger fears that if he moves then he is as good as dead. He starts to pray for someone to help him, to save him.

…..

L and Light look out the window at the building as Watari pulls up.

There are cars and about two motorcycles as well as some orphans hanging around the front area.

L takes the lead as they leave the car.

Light follows L into the building as they both know that the kids outside the building will be safe.

The two begin to explore together as some police members also start searching the building.

L opens a door and they find themselves in the place where the orphans were kept. "So this is where they were kept."

"Seems they've escaped." Light says.

"As we saw some outside." L agrees closing the door. "I believe that those vehicles we saw outside are another group that also came to help. I am twenty percent sure."

"Let's keep going." Light says.

L nods and the two continue on with their search.

…..

Silver turns back to Rodger with venom even in his glare. "You scum." He hisses with pure venom. "You will pay for what you did. You killed my brother! That's why he didn't respond to me! You filthy scum!"

"You have no proof. I can convince the courts that you attacked me while I was trying to help." Rodger says with a small smirk as his mind works to try to get himself out of this. "They'll believe me over you especially with what you are doing right now."

Silver snarls.

"There is enough evidence in this building to convict you for what it is you have done."


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter twenty one:

Rodger's eyes widen as he turns only for his eyes to land on L. He gaps unsure what to say so he just blurts something out. "I didn't think you'd know of this place."

"No one can defeat him." Light snorts in laughter.

L turns to Silver and he can tell that the other isn't Near.

Silver looks very pissed off.

L moves forward and Light opens his mouth to protest about approaching the boy.

Instead L turns to Light.

"It'll be ok. Can you check on the girl and the two on the ground?" L then turns back to heading over to Silver.

Light nods hesitantly then goes to do as L asked.

Rodger has come to realize that he has lost this battle. He turns pleadingly to Silver wanting him to let him go so he can run off.

Silver growls what could have been a nonverbal no and presses the scythes blade harder against Rodger's throat making some more blood drip down his neck.

L stops once he is close enough. "We will take it from here." He says. "Do not worry he will pay for what he's done." He says trying to get Silver to release Rodger before he kills him.

"Damn straight." Silver growls glaring death bombs at Rodger.

Some police make it to them but before they can move in L moves a hand out to silently tell them to don't do anything.

L glances back silently telling them with a look to just be ready to arrest the older man aka Rodger.

The police hesitantly back off only because they trust L who they believe was sent by L to help them.

L turns back to the two as his hand goes back to his side. "You can trust us." He says to Silver. "Let him go."

Silver clenches his teeth.

Rai gets up and hurries over to him only to hug him.

Silver turns looking gentle even though he still has his red eyes as he looks to his sister.

"Please." Rai whimpers. "Please Silver that's enough." She raises her head to look into her brother's eyes.

Silver blinks then lowers his head letting his eyes turn back to brown. He gives a final glare at Rodger then backs up letting him to fall to the floor.

Rodger tries to scramble away.

The police dash forward and arrest Rodger before he can get more than just a little away.

L gives a small smile to Silver. "That was a good choice." He says. "And thank you for helping us catch him."

Silver looks away. "I couldn't save our brother." He sighs.

L comes over and pats on Silver's shoulder. "We cannot win every battle. But Near's spirit will rest in peace thanks to you. You avenged him. In that way you have saved him."

Silver blinks at L then nods realizing that L is right.

L nods then lets go of Silver. He turns to Light.

Light gets to his feet and heads over to L stopping once in front of him. He smiles and puts a hand on L's shoulder. "You did good." He says.

L nods. "We did good. Even if couldn't save them all."

Light smiles a bit more then hugs L. "No one can be perfect."

L smiles softly and hugs Light back. "Thank you Light." He says.

"Anytime. Anytime." Light says.

They pull away after a moment.

L takes the lead outside.

Those working with Rodger as well as Rodger himself are loaded into police cars while some police members do a sweep of the area to make sure they didn't miss anyone.

Ambulances arrive to help the orphans that made it out alive.

L frowns slightly as he sees the much lower amount of orphans even though there are still plenty he can tell they have lost many.

The Shadows were thanked for their efforts but they only wanted in return a good funeral for Near and Mello though mainly Near. They took Near's siblings home to let them mourn alongside the other members of the gang.

L turns to Light ….. Only Light isn't there. He looks around wondering where Light went off to. He begins to look for Light and when he can't find Light he decides to head around the building. He peers around the left corner and sees Light.

Light is standing there looking at something invisible.

Curious L silently watches.

"Ryuk." Light speaks. "I wish to relinquish the ownership of the Death note."

L blinks and as if possessed he moves over to Light. "Relinquish the Death note?"

Light spins around to face L. He stares in L's eyes. "To be with you."

That is all he says at the moment.

"Light. What is the Death note?" L presses.

Light sighs. "They say honesty is the best policy." He holds up the Death note. "This." He says letting L see it. "Is a Death note." He hands it to L. "You can kill someone by writing their name in it while keeping their face in mind." He pauses for a moment. "Look up."

L does and he looks to Ryuk who chuckles slightly. He looks back to Light as if expecting something.

Light looks worried. "I am Kira."

"Why?" L questions.

"Because I thought that this world was rotten with all of it's crime." Light responds. "I thought that finding the note book I was the one that had to make a difference in this world. Misa eventually did join me and I only pretend to be her boyfriend as I never actually liked that annoying girl." He pauses again. "But …. Well ….. When I met you I began to see another side of life. Of course I remembered that as long as I was Kira I could not keep this other side of life." He explains.

L watches Light knowing the other wants to say more.

"I love you L."

L is silent for a few moments.

Light worries that he is going to be rejected which terrifies him since he has fallen so hard for L he doesn't think he'd recover if that happened.

"Light …." L begins. "I have a deep regard for you too." He says feeling this flow nicely.

Light nods. "I have a deep regard for you too." He says as if picking up that L has probably never actually said I love you to possibly anyone before. He'll be penitent for those three words to come from L's mouth but right now L's words make his heart soar.

L hands him back the note book.

Light takes and turns to Ryuk as L watches. He gives the note book to Ryuk.

"Well this has been fun." Ryuk takes it then flies off after speaking.

Light blinks as his memories of being Kira vanish.

L puts a hand on Light's shoulder.

Light turns to look to L.

"Let's go." L says then lets go of Light and begins walking back to where all the cars are.

Light follows after him.

Just before they turn the corner L stops.

L looks back to Light who also stops. He turns to the other and moves closer.

Light watches not sure what L is planning.

L places a gentle kiss on the edge of Light's mouth.

Light blushes in shock.

L pulls away with a light blush dusting his cheeks. "Thank you Light." He says then he turns and heads back to where the others are.

Light stands there for a few moments and brings a hand up to gently touch where L kissed him with affection. He can't help but grin then he heads after L.

Once he catches up with L the other speaks.

"I think I have an idea."

…

Light goes over to Misa.

"Light!" Misa happily throws herself into Light's arms.

Light pushes her away. "Misa." He says sternly. "Are you Kira?"

"Well duh of course I am Light. I am the second Kira." Misa responds as if it should be obvious.

The task force move in and arrest her.

"Whats going on!" Misa gasps scared.

"Well that little confession helped." Aizawa says.

"But Light is Kira too!" Misa gasps terrified.

Rem growls and is about to get a note book to kill Light but one of the team members find it and burn it. She finds herself unable to do anything. She feels useless unable to help. She then remembers her other book and takes it out. "How dare you Light." She says to herself opening her book. She is about to start writing.

"Light gave up on being Kira. He will still have his punishment." L speaks.

"I expected as much when I told you the truth." Light confirms.

The team are shocked a little but Soichiro especially is glad that Light turned around to the good side for whatever reason.

"Rem. Please don't." Misa sobs. "I still love Light!"

Rem stares surprised at Misa but finds she can't do anything but obey. She stays at Misa's side though. She doesn't want to hurt Misa.

Misa is taken away.

Found as guilty she Kira she is thrown into prison to currently await for the papers to come in if she will be executed for her crimes as the judge said he had to look it over with another judge since Misa is famous.

Light on the other hand is taken into L's care though of course L keeps him locked away and does sometimes take him outside but it's like Light is serving time by being stuck inside.

The worst part is for now L has made it worse by not letting Light kiss him or sleep in the same bed until about a month or two.

Light hates it but L tells him that it's his punishment for being Kira.

Light's family accepted the two being together when Light came out saying that he liked L only to be told that if he did get with L then they would be happy for him since he'll be happy.

The task force have moved on to other cases now but they have become one of L's most trusted teams to work with.

…

Mello closes his eyes as he sits on a cloud over looking paradise.

This place is beautiful and heavenly.

This is a part of heaven though it isn't Mellos heaven without a needed final touch.

Near comes over from behind Mello waking along the grass.

Mello turns to Near and the two share a smile.

Yes. Being here with Near truly makes it heaven for Mello.

Mello hops off the cloud landing on the grass without hurting himself since they are now no longer on Earth. He goes over to the other and wraps his arms around his waist as they stare into each other's eyes. "Hey there." He greets with a loving smile.

"Hey." Near greets smiling with love right back at Mello.

"The way things played out didn't really follow my visions of our future but it got us together and away from that horrible place." Mello says leaning his forehead against Nears own.

"The future is always changing with each decision that we make." Near responds. "We cannot ever predict it completely correct."

Mello chuckles closing his eyes for a moment. "Yeah that's true." He then opens his eyes to half way after speaking. "God I love you so much Near. You make this place a utopian paradise."

Near leans forward closing his eyes softly as he gives a short sweet kiss to Mellos lips only to pull away looking at Mellos eyes with his own being half open. "And I love you Mello. You make this place true heaven."

And so as they kiss again their spirits have come to rest within heaven being able to be together forever and ever.

The end.


End file.
